LATEST MAGIC 



BEING 



ORIGINAL CONJURING TRICKS 



INVENTED AND ARRANGED 
BY 

PROFESSOR HOFFMANN 

(ANGELO LEWIS. M.A.) 
Author of "Modern Magic," etc. 



WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS 



First Edition 



NEW YORK 

SPON & CHAMBERLAIN, 120 Liberty St. 

1918 




T 



t i 



f 






Copyright, 1918 
By SPON & CHAMBERLAIN 






CAMELOT PRESS, 226-328 WILLIAM ST., NEW YORK, U. S. A. 



CI.A5U6691 



TO 

J. N". MASKELYNE, ESQ. 

FOREMOST OF ENGLISH MAGICIANS, 
AND 

Fearless Exposer of Falsehood and Fraud 
This Book is Dedicated 

ry 

His Friend and Admirer, 
THE AUTHOR 



PREFACE 



The tricks described in the following pages are 
of my own invention, and for the most part are en- 
tirely new departures: not only the effects pro- 
duced, but the appliances by means of which they 
are produced, being original. 

From the nature of the case, it follows that few 
of the items described have been submitted to the 
supreme test of performance in public, but all have 
been thoroughly thought out; most of the root- 
ideas having in fact been simmering in my mind 
for more than two years past. One or two of them 
may demand a more than average amount of ad- 
dress on the part of the performer; but the ma- 
jority are comparatively easy, and I believe I may 
assert with confidence that all will be found both 
practicable and effective. Should any of my mod- 
est inventions be found, as is not improbable, sus- 
ceptible of further polish, the keen wits and ready 
fingers of my brother wizards may safely be 
trusted to supply it. 

The items entitled The Mystery of Mahomet, 
The Bewildering Blocks, and The Wizard's 



Vlll PREFACE 

Pocket-booh, have been described in the columns of 
an English magical serial, but have never appeared 
in book shape, and are by special desire, included 
in the present volume. 

A final word on a personal matter. Had I been 
prophet, as well as magician, when I first began 
to write on conjuring, I should have chosen a dif- 
ferent pen-name. In the light of later events, my 
selection was unfortunate. My identity has long 
been an open secret, but as I cannot flatter myself 
that it is universally known, I take this opportun- 
ity to assure all whom it may concern that I am 
British to the backbone. 



Louis Hoffmann. 



CONTENTS 



Portrait of Professor Hoffmann .... Frontispiece 

PAGE 

Preface vii 

Some New Appliances of General Utility .... 1 

Magical Mats 1 

Fairy Flower-Pots 5 

Patter Introducing the Flower-Pots 8 

Adhesive Cards and Tricks Therewith 10 

The Missing Card 12 

Novel Applications of the "Black Art" Principle . 17 

Black Art Mats and Black Art Patches 17 

A Magical Transposition 23 

The Detective Die 26 

Dissolving Dice 32 

Where is It? . 38 

Card Tricks .... 46 

Arithmetic by Magic 46 

Those Naughty Knaves 49 

Magnetic Magic 55 

The Telepathic Tape .57 

A Card Comedy 60 

The Fast and Loose Card-Box 63 

A Royal Tug of War 64 

Sympathetic Cards 66 

Tell-Tale Fingers 68 

Divination Doubly Difficult 72 

A New Long Card and Tricks Therewith .... 77 

The Mascot Coin Box . 83 

ix 



X CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Miscellaneous Tricks . . . - 88 

Money-Making Made Easy 88 

The Missing Link 92 

Culture Extraordinary 97 

The Bounding Beans 104 

Lost and Found . . . . . 110 

The Riddle of the Pyramids 115 

The Miracle of Mumbo Jumbo 123 

The Story of the Alkahest 130 

The Oracle of Memphis 137 

The Mystery of Mahomet 146 

The Bewildering Blocks 156 

An "Od" Force 162 

The Mystery of the Three Seals 170 

The Wizard's Pocketbook 180 

Concerning Patter 192 

The Use of the Wand 203 

A Few Wrinkles ............ 215 

L'Envoi 222 



LATEST MAGIC 

INTRODUCTORY 

SOME NEW APPLIANCES OF GENERAL UTILITY 

The little appliances to be presently described 
are the outcome of ideas which, after a long period 
of incubation in my note-books, have ultimately 
taken concrete form in what, I venture to believe, 
will be found to be practical and useful items of 
magical apparatus. I may further claim that they 
combine in an exceptional degree absolute inno- 
cence of appearance with a wide range of practical 
utility. Examples of their uses are indicated in 
the following pages, but the inventive reader will 
find that these by no means exhaust their possibili- 
ties of usefulness. 

MAGICAL MATS 

The first to be described are of two different 
kinds, to be known as the "Card" and "Coin" Mat 
respectively. They are in appearance simply cir- 
cular table — or plate mats, with an ornamental 



2 LATEST MAGIC 

border as depicted in Fig. 1, and about seven inches 
in diameter. In the centre of each is an embossed 
shield, ostensibly a mere ornament, but in reality 
serving, as will presently be seen, an important 
practical purpose. 



^EjsA^ ; '--'^'-^ ,r -'-- ■- ■■'■■ ; H^""' 
: mtsemamim~~ 

Fig. 1 



To the casual observer the two mats look pre- 
cisely alike, but there are in reality important 
practical differences between them. The "coin" 
mat is covered with leather on both sides, and each 
has the embossed shield, so that, whichever side is 
uppermost, no difference is perceptible to the eye. 
In the case of the "card" mat the upper surface 
only is of leather, the under side being covered with 
baize. The object of this difference is that the 
exposure (accidental or otherwise) of the baize- 
covered side of the card mat may induce in the 
mind of the spectator the assumption that the 
under side of the coin mat is covered in the same 
way, such assumption naturally precluding the 
idea that it is reversible. 



MAGICAL MATS 3 

Each mat has a secret space, after the manner of 
the old ''multiplying" salver, between its upper 
and under surfaces. The opening in each case is 
opposite the lower end or point of the shield before 
mentioned, so that, however the mat may be placed, 
a glance at the shield will always furnish a guide 
to the position, for the time being, of the opening. 




Fig. 2 



In the case of the card mat the secret space (see 
Fig. 2) is just large enough to accommodate three 
playing cards, one upon another. The corre- 
sponding space in the coin mat (Fig. 3) is shorter, 
narrower and deeper, being designed to receive. 



4 LATEST MAGIC 

one upon the other, a couple of half-crowns, or 
coins of similar size. 1 

When required for use, the coin mat is prepared, 
shortly beforehand, by rubbing the whole of the 
space within the ornamental border on one of its 
faces with diachylon, in the solid form. The 




Fig. 3 



diachylon is used cold, the necessary iriction melt- 
ing it sufficiently, without any additional heating. 
This treatment renders the surface of the mat, for 
the time being, adhesive, without in any way alter- 
ing its appearance.. To make sure of its being just 
right, press a half-crown or penny down firmly 

i Where coins of English denominations are referred to in the text, 
the American wizard will naturally replace them by corresponding coins 
of the U. S. currency. 



THE FAIRY FLOWER-POTS 



upon it, turn the mat over, and wave it about 
freely. If the coin adheres securely, the mat is 



in working order. 



THE FAIRY FLOWER-POTS 

These are, strictly speaking, only flower-pot 
cases, called in French cache-pots. They may be 
of leather or cardboard, ornamented on the out- 
side, but plain black inside, their general appear- 




Fig. 4 



ance being as shown in Fig. 4. They have neither 
top nor bottom, and when not in use, can be opened 
out flat or rolled up as in Figs. 5 and 6, for greater 
portability. 
The pair, when needed for use, are exhibited in 



LATEST MAGIC 



the first instance as one only, the one within the 
other. The professedly single pot, after being 
proved empty by exhibiting the interior and pass- 




Fig. 5 




Fig. 6 



ing the hand through it, is made into two, by sim- 
ply drawing out the inner one. The duplication 
is not presented as a trick, the modus operandi 



THE FAIRY FLOWER-POTS 7 

being self-evident, but it has a pretty effect, and 
the exhibiting of the two pots as one in the first 
instance admits of the presence, within the outer 
one, of a secret pocket, open at top, as depicted in 
Fig. 7, but folding down, when not in use, flat 
against its side. 1 




Fig. 7 



The main object of this pocket is to enable the 
performer to "vanish" a card. The card to be 
got rid of is dropped ostensibly into the flower- 
pot, or rather, the pot being bottomless, through 
it on to the table, where, when the pot is lifted, 
the spectators naturally expect to see it. It has 
however disappeared, having in fact been dropped 
into the pocket, where it remains concealed. Two, 
or even three cards may on occasion be dealt with 
in the same way. By covering the pocket with the 

i It is extremely diffieult to construct the "pots" so that the pocket is 
workable on the concave inner surface, but if they are made four, five or 
six-sided the pocket folds against a flat surface and works perfectly. — Ed, 



8 LATEST MAGIC 

fingers in the act of picking up the pot, the interior 
of the latter may be freely shown after their disap- 
pearance. 

The pocket, previously loaded accordingly 
(though the flower-pot is shown, to all appearance, 
empty), may also be used for the production of a 
card or cards. 



PATTER APPROPRIATE TO THE FAIRY 
FLOWER-POTS 

The flower-pots may be introduced as follows: 
1 'Permit me to call your attention to one of my 
latest improvements. Conjurers have a foolish 
fancy, as I dare say you have noticed, for borrow- 
ing other people's hats. If a conjurer wants to 
collect money from the air, he collects it in a hat. 
If he wants to make an omelette, he cooks it in a 
hat. If he wants to hatch a few chickens, he does 
it in a hat. And, for fear of accidents, he never 
uses his own hat, but always borrows somebody 
else's. It's very wrong of us. As Sir William 
Gilbert says, about some other forms of crime, 

'It's human nature, P'raps. If so, 
! isn't human nature low.' 

But we all do it. The worst of it is, we get so in 
the way of borrowing hats that we do it without 
thinking. You will hardly believe that one even- 
ing I came away from the theatre with two hats, 



THE FAIRY FLOWER-POTS 9 

One of them was my own. The other I had bor- 
rowed — from under the seat. You don't believe 
it? Well, I said you wouldn't. I always know! 

"But that is not all. It isn't only the bad effect 
on the conjurer's own morals, and sometimes on 
the hat. People are so careless. They do leave 
such funny things in their hats. Cannon balls and 
birdcages; babies' socks and babies' bottles; rab- 
bits and pigeons, and bowls of fish, and a host of 
other things. And just when you are going to pro- 
duce some brilliant effect, you are pulled up short 
by finding some silly thing of that sort in the hat. 
It's most annoying. 

"So, after thinking it over, I made up my mind 
to do away with hats altogether. Of course I 
don't mean for putting on people's heads, but so 
far as conjuring is concerned, and it struck me 
that a pretty flower-pot, like this, would form a 
capital substitute." (Show as one, the combined 
pots, inside and out.) "Much nicer than a hat, 
don't you think 1 ? It is prettier, to begin with, and 
then again, you can see right through it, and make 
sure there is no deception. You see that at pres- 
ent the pot is perfectly empty. 

"But no! I scorn to deceive you. I am like 
George Washington, except that I haven't got a 
little axe. I cannot tell a lie. At least it hurts 
me very much to do so, and I don't feel well enough 
to do it now. No ! It is useless any longer to dis- 
guise it ! The pot is not really empty, for you see 



10 LATEST MAGIC 

here is another inside it." (Produce second pot.) 
"You wouldn't have thought it, would you? In 
fact, you would never have known, if I hadn't told 
you. 

"Of course I could keep on doing this all the 
evening, but there wouldn 't be much fun in it, and 
no time would be left for anything e]se, so I will 
proceed at once to make use of the pots for a little 
experiment with cards." 

(Proceed with any trick for which the card mat 
may have been prepared.) 

N. B. It will be taken for granted, in the 
description of tricks dependent upon the use of the 
flower-pots, that these have been already intro- 
duced, after the above or some similar manner. 

ADHESIVE CARDS AND TRICKS THEREWITH 

I believe I may safely claim that the device I 
am about to describe was, until I disclosed it some 
months ago in the Magazine of Magic, an absolute 
novelty. It consists in the preparation of one card 
of a pack (or, better still, of a spare card, to be 
substituted at need for its double), by rubbing one 
or other of its surfaces, shortly before it is needed 
for use, with diachylon, in the solid form. 

We will suppose, in the first instance, that the 
back of the card is so dealt with. The rubbing 
does not alter its appearance, but gives it a thin 
coating of adhesive matter, and if another card is 



ADHESIVE CARDS 11 

pressed against the surface so treated, the two 
adhere, and for the time become, in effect, one card 
only, viz:, the one whose face is exposed, the other 
having temporarily disappeared from the pack. 

This renders possible many striking effects. To 
take an elementary example, let us suppose that 
the old-fashioned flat card-box, or some other 
appliance for magically producing a card, is 
loaded with, say, a seven of diamonds. The cor- 
responding card is forced on one of the company, 
and taken back into the middle of the pack, on 
the top of the prepared card. -The performer does 
not disturb or tamper with the pack in the smallest 
degree. He merely squares up the cards, and, 
pressing them well together, hands them to be 
shuffled, meanwhile calling attention to the card- 
box, which is shown apparently empty. He then 
asks the name of the drawn card, announcing that 
it will at his command leave the pack and find its 
way into the box. 

He now counts off the cards, showing the face 
of each as he does so, and leaving it exposed upon 
the table. The seven of diamonds has disap- 
peared, being in fact hidden behind the prepared 
card, which we will suppose to be in this instance 
the queen of clubs. 

Leaving the cards outspread upon the table, the 
performer opens the card-box, and shows that the 
missing card has somehow found its way into it. 

In the hands of a novice, the trick might end at 



12 LATEST MAGIC 

this point ; but even a novice may very well carry 
it a stage further. To do so, he will in the first 
place replace the card in the box, in such a manner 
that it can be again "vanished." In gathering 
together the outspread cards, he takes care to place 
the queen of clubs on top of the rest. As this, 
however, is the double card, the actual top card is 
of course the missing seven of diamonds. It is 
an easy matter, in handling the cards, to detach 
this from the queen of clubs, and, after a little 
"talkee-talkee," show that it has left the box and 
returned to the pack. 

The above would, however, be much too crude 
and elementary a proceeding to commend itself to 
the expert. In the trick next to be described the 
same expedient is employed after a more subtle 
fashion. 

THE MISSING CARD 

The requirements for this trick consist of two 
complete packs of cards and an extra card, which 
we will suppose to be the knave of diamonds. One 
of the two packs, which we will call A, has on top 
a card made adhesive at the back as above 
described, and its own knave of diamonds at the 
bottom. The other pack, B, is wholly unprepared. 

The first step is to offer pack B to be shuffled, 
and when it is returned to palm on to it the spare 
knave of diamonds, after which the pack is left 



THE MISSING CARD 13 

temporarily for the time being in view on the table. 
The next step is to pick up pack A, and force from 
it the knave of diamonds, receiving it back on top of 
the prepared card, passed to the middle of the pack 
for its reception. Squaring up the pack and 
applying the necessary pressure, the performer 
offers it to be shuffled, meanwhile delivering him- 
self to something like the following effect. 

" Before going further, ladies and gentlemen, 
I want you to remember exactly what has been 
done. A card has been chosen from this pack. It 
has been put back again, the cards have been 
shuffled, and you can all bear witness that I have 
not touched them since. Nobody knows, except 
the lady who chose it, what card she chose. 
Whereabouts in the pack it may be at this moment 
not one of us knows, even the lady herself. I can 
assure you truthfully that I don't, but I propose, 
by force of magic, to compel that card, whatever it 
may be, to leave that pack altogether, and pass into 
the other one. Nay, more than that, I shall com- 
pel it to place itself at any number in that pack 
you like to name. What shall we say ? Seventh? 
Good. 

"Now please bear in mind that that pack, like 
the other, has just been shuffled, and that I have 
not touched it since. It is therefore manifestly 
impossible that I should know the position of any 
card in it. Of course, as there is already a knave 
of diamonds in the pack, it is just possible, though 



14 LATEST MAGIC 

scarcely likely, that that card may have been 
shuffled into the seventh place. We will see." 

He counts off cards from the top of the pack on 
to the table, faces down, not exposing any card till 
he comes to the seventh, which he holds up so that 
all may see it. "Now, Madam, is that your card 1 ? 
I don't want to know the name of it yet. It is not 
your card? I did not suppose it was, for the 
chances were over fifty to one against it, but you 
never can tell ! ' ' 

He gathers up the cards counted off, and without 
disturbing their order, replaces them on the top 
of the pack, thereby bringing the original top card 
to the seventh place. 

"Now please observe that I do not touch these 
cards again till the miracle has actually happened. 
I will now ask you, madam, to be good enough to 
name your card. The knave of diamonds, you 
say ? That is all right. Had you taken the knave 
of clubs, I should have feared for the success of 
my experiment, for that knave always gives 
trouble, if he can ; but the knave of diamonds is a 
very gentlemanly card, and I have no doubt that 
he will readily oblige. Now, Percy (perhaps you 
didn't know his name was Percy), I want you to 
leave the pack you. are in, and place yourself sev- 
enth in the other pack. Go at once, like a good 
boy. Start at the top, and go straight down. 
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven ! 

"I should think he has arrived by this time. 



THE MISSING CARD 15 

Let us make sure first, though, whether he has 
really left the other pack. ' ' 

Picking up pack A, he counts the cards slowly, 
not looking at them himself, but showing the face 
of each before laying it on the table. "Stop me, 
please, if you see the knave of diamonds." He 
counts, "one, two, three, four," and so on to the 
end. "Fifty-one cards only! Then there is one 
card missing, and as you have not seen the knave 
of diamonds, and as all the other cards are here, it 
is plain that it is he who has left the pack. We 
have still to find out whether he has obeyed orders, 
and gone over to the other pack. You wished him 
to place himself seventh, I think. I won't touch 
the cards myself. Will some gentleman come for- 
ward, and count them off for me!" (This is 
done.) "The seventh card is really the knave of 
diamonds, is it not % 

"But, you may say, this might be the knave 
properly belonging to this pack. Please look 
through the pack, sir, and if there has been no 
deception you will find the proper knave in some 
other part of it. You have found the other knave ? 
Then you will admit that that proves clearly that 
this first one is the identical card the lady drew." 1 

It would be easy to give other combinations 
dependent on the use of the adhesive principle, but 

i A somewhat more elaborate trick of mine on the same principle 
{The Elusive Card) will be found described in the Magazine of Magic, 
Vol. II, pp. 13, 47. 



16 LATEST MAGIC 

these may safely be left to the ingenuity of the 
reader. If the face, instead of the back, of a given 
card be treated with the adhesive, that card will 
itself disappear from the pack. By due adjust- 
ment two adhering cards may (the one slightly 
overlapping the other) be made to form a tem- 
porary long or wide card. 



NOVEL APPLICATIONS OF THE 
"BLACK AET" PRINCIPLE 

BLACK ART MATS AND BLACK ART PATCHES 

The Black Art Table has long since established 
itself in the affections of the conjurer as one of his 
most effective aids. At a stage performance the 
presence of one or more such adjuncts is almost a 
matter of course, but the drawing room performer 
finds many occasions when, for one reason or 
another, the use of such an aid is precluded. 
Some wizards, as a matter of personal convenience, 
decline to burden themselves with more artistic 
luggage than can be bestowed in an ordinary hand- 
bag. Others, again, hold (and not without rea- 
son) that the use of a special table, imported by 
the performer himself, tends to discount the marvel 
of his show; as being suggestive of that ' 'prepara- 
tion" which every artistic conjurer is anxious to 
disclaim. It is no doubt an easy matter to arrange 
a good enough programme for which the aid of 
"black art" is not needed, but this means the 
exclusion not merely of a valuable auxiliary, but 
of many of the most striking magical effects. 

I have pleasure in introducing to the reader a 
substitute which, though its capabilities fall a good 

17 



18 LATEST MAGIC 

deal short of those of the actual table, will answer 
many of its purposes, apart from special merits of 
its own, and which has the further recommenda- 
tion of exceptional portability. It may be appro- 
priately entitled the Black Art Mat. It consists 
of a piece of Bristol board of size and shape suit- 
able to the purpose for which it is to be used, cov- 
ered on both sides with black velvet and edged with 
narrow ornamental braid or binding. The one 




Fig. 8 



side has no speciality, but the other has a flat 
pocket across one or more of its corners ; as indi- 
cated in Fig. 8. In the case of a mat of small size 
the pocket may extend diagonally from corner to 
corner as in Fig. 9. The edge of the pocket may be 
braided if preferred (the rest of the surface being 
ornamented to correspond) but if the mat be well 
made this is not necessary. The mouth of each 
pocket is made slightly "full," and is held open 



BLACK ART MATS 



19 



a quarter of an inch or so by means of a stiffening 
along its inner edge. By having the millboard 
foundation cut in half before it is covered, the mat 
may be made to fold like a chessboard for greater 
portability. 




Fig. 9 



If some small article, say a coin or ring, is laid 
on mat just behind the mouth of the pocket, it may 
be made to disappear therein, being in fact swept 
into the pocket in the act of apparently picking it 
up. In the case of a coin, the pocket may by a 
slight alteration of procedure be used to effect a 
" change"; a substitute, palmed beforehand, being 
exhibited in place of the one professedly picked up 
from the mat. 

It is desirable when placing the mat upon the 
table for use to see that the mouth of the pocket 
is duly open and has not been, by any accident, 
pressed flat, and so closed. 



20 LATEST MAGIC 

The utility of the black art mat, however, does 
not depend upon the pocket only. Its unbroken or 
"plain" side, or indeed a mat wholly without 
pockets may also be very effectively used for van- 
ishing purposes. In this case a little auxiliary 
appliance comes into play. This is a small velvet 
patch, serving as an " overlay." It may be round 
or square, according to the purpose for which it is 
intended to be used. For coin-vanishing purposes 
it is best circular, and about two inches (or less, 
as the case may be) in diameter. The foundation 
is in this case a disc of thin card covered on both 
sides with velvet, in colour and texture exactly cor- 
responding ivith that of the mat, under which con- 
ditions the patch, when laid on the mat, will be 
invisible. The exact similarity of the two surfaces 
is a point of the highest importance for black art 
effects, and the velvet used, if not actually silk vel- 
vet, should at least be of the silk-faced kind. Vel- 
vet which is all cotton will never give satisfactory 
results. 

If a coin be laid on any part of the mat the 
performer has only (in the supposed act of picking 
it up) to lay the velvet patch over it to render it 
invisible. If it is desired to reproduce the coin, a 
handkerchief shown to be empty, may be laid over 
the patch, and a moment or two later picked up 
again, bringing away the overlay within it, and 
again revealing the coin in statu quo. A practical 
example of the use of this device will be found in 



BLACK ART MATS 21 

the case of the trick entitled Lost and Found, post. 
Another little device which will be found useful 
in connection with the black art mat is a cardboard 
disc covered as above, to one side of which a coin, 
say a half-crown or half-dollar, is cemented as in 




Fig. 10 



Fig. 10. Such a patch, laid on the mat, coin side 
down, will attract no notice, but the mere act of 
turning it over will at any given moment produce 
the coin. The ' ' change" of a coin may be expected 
very neatly by the aid of this device. Suppose, 
for example, that the performer desires to retain, 
unknown to the spectators, possession of a marked 
coin just handed to him. He lays it, to all appear- 
ance, in full view upon the table, but as a matter 
of fact merely turns over a patch, loaded as above, 
already on the table, the borrowed coin remaining 
in his hand. 
The velvet patch may also be utilised in another 



22 LATEST MAGIC 

way for " changing" a borrowed coin. The per- 
former, asking the loan of a marked coin, brings 
forward held in his left hand a velvet mat (of small 
size) whereon to receive it; the right hand mean- 
while holding palmed against the second and third 
fingers the velvet patch, and between this and the 
hand a substitute coin of similar kind. Turning 
(to the left) towards his table, with the coin in full 
view on the mat, he (apparently) picks it up and 
holds it aloft with the right hand, placing the 
now empty mat alone on the table. What he 
really does is to lay the velvet patch over the bor- 
rowed coin and to pick the substitute in its place. 
The original lies perdu on the mat, whence it is 
child's play to gain possession of it at any later 
stage of the trick. 

The process may be varied by placing the mat, 
after receiving the borrowed coin upon it, at once 
on the table, and a little later picking up the mat 
with the left hand, then proceeding as above indi- 
cated. The advantage of this plan is that the turn 
to the table to pick up the mat masks for the 
moment the right side of the performer and gives 
him a convenient opportunity to palm the coin and 
patch, bestowed in readiness in the pochette on 
that side. 

The same principle may be applied with appro- 
priate modifications to card tricks. The idea of 
the black art mat is so completely a novelty that I 
have not found leisure to give it the full considera- 



A MAGICAL TRANSPOSITION 23 

tion it deserves, and have probably far from 
exhausted its possibilities, but I offer by way of 
illustration the trick next following, which it seems 
to me would be rather effective, particularly as an 
introduction to some other card trick. We will 
call it 

A MAGICAL TRANSPOSITION 

Prepare two cards, say an eight of hearts and a 
seven of spades, by blackening all their edges save 
one of the narrow ends, 1 and backing each with 
velvet matching the mat. Lay the two cards so 
treated face down with the white edge towards 
yourself on the mat at some little distance apart, 
or preferably on separate mats. Force corre- 
sponding cards on two members of the company 
and deliver an oration to something like the fol- 
lowing effect : 

"We hear people talk sometimes about the 
quickness of the hand deceiving the eye. I sup- 
pose such a thing must be possible, or nobody 
would have thought of it, but it seems to me that if 
it did anything of the kind, either the hand must be 
extra quick, or the eye extra slow. I know I should 
be afraid to attempt anything of that sort myself, 
but if you are a magician of the right sort you have 
no need to do so, for you can deceive the eye with- 

i Better still, thicken the under edge by the interposition between 
card and velvet of a slip of white card, as described in The Detective 
Die, post. 



24 LATEST MAGIC 

out any quickness at all. I will prove it to you by 
means of these two cards which have been chosen. 
Please give me one of them. I don't mind which. ' ' 

We will suppose that the card handed up is the 
eight of hearts. 

" Notice please what card this is; the eight of 
hearts. You can't possibly mistake it for any 
other card, can you? I will turn it down here on 
the table. And now for the other card." (It is 
held up that all may see it.) "This one, you see, 
is the seven of spades. No mistake about that, 
either! I will lay that one here." The card is in 
each case laid upon the velvet-covered card of the 
opposite kind. 

' * ' Please don 't forget which is which. There has 
been no quickness of the hand so far, has there? 
Now I am going to make these two cards change 
places." (You touch each with the wand.) 
"Presto, change!" (Picking up the upper and 
lower cards exactly one upon the other you show 
what was a moment previously the eight of hearts, 
but which now appears to be the seven of spades.) 
"One card has changed, you see. And now for 
the other." (You show the other pair after the 
same fashion.) "And here we have the eight of 
hearts. I will now order them to change back 
again." You lay both pairs again face down. 

"Now I again give the cards a touch with my 
wand, and say 'Eight about! Change!' and now, 
you see" (showing the faces of the original cards). 



THE DETECTIVE DIE 25 

"they have returned to their original positions. 

"Now you will realise, if you think about the 
matter, that those two cards couldn't in any nat- 
ural way change places without your seeing them 
do it, neither could the one change into the other. 
But this is where magic comes in. What I really 
did was to hypnotise you a little so as to make you 
fancy, when I told the cards to change, that the 
eight of hearts was the seven of spades, and that 
the seven of spades was the eight of hearts. It's 
quite simple, when you know it, and you can see 
for yourselves that the quickness of the hand has 
had nothing to do with the matter. For my own 
part I like to do things slowly; the more slowly 
the better, and then you can all see how it's done." 

The trick is simple enough ; but it will test the 
performer's expertness as to neatness of execu- 
tion. He must be careful in the first place to put 
each of the drawn cards as exactly as possible on 
the opposite velvet-backed card ; and in picking up 
two cards together he should frame them, so to 
speak, between the middle finger and thumb at top 
and bottom, and the first and third fingers at the 
sides. Held in this manner they rest squarely one 
upon the other and there is little fear of their 
"duplicity" (or "duplexity") being perceived. 
In the act of again turning the double card down 
the upper one should be partially drawn off the 
one below it ; this facilitating the picking of it up 
alone a few moments later. 



26 LATEST MAGIC- 

An illustration of the use of the same device 
in a somewhat different form will be found in the 
item next described, and in the trick entitled 
"Where is it?" post. Other ways of using it will 
suggest themselves to any reader of an inventive 
turn. 

THE DETECTIVE DIE 

This is another of the new departures dependent 
upon the use of the velvet mat. Broadly stated, 
the effect of the trick is as follows. 

One of a group of six different cards laid out in 
a row or rows repeatedly changes place with some 
other, the position which it occupies, or to which it 
has moved, being indicated by the cast of an ordi- 
nary die. This may be repeated any number of 
times. 1 

The requirements for the trick are as follows : 

1. The Velvet Mat. This should be one with 
a plain surface, dimensions preferably eighteen 
inches by ten, so as to admit of the six cards being 
laid in one row. A smaller size, say twelve by 
nine, may suffice, the six cards in this case being 
arranged in two rows. In either case there must 
be a space of an inch or so between each pair. 

i Since the description which follows was written, it has come to my 
knowledge that there is already on sale a trick on somewhat similar 
lines in point of effect entitled The Educated Die. I need hardly say 
that my own trick, so far as I am concerned, is absolutely original. The 
advertised description of The Educated Die would suit either trick, but 
there is little further resemblance between them. 



THE DETECTIVE DIE 27 

2. Six cards of like denomination (say for the 
purpose of illustration six queens of diamonds), 
each backed with black velvet and blackened at the 
edges all around save at one end. Here the card is 
thickened by the interposition of a slip of white 
card-board between itself and the velvet, so that the 
card as viewed from that end shall show a clearly 
visible white edge. Each card has all four of its 
corners snipped off to a microscopic extent, say a 
sixteenth, or less, of an inch. 

3. An ordinary pack of cards one of which (in 
the case supposed, the queen of diamonds) bears a 
mark upon its back recognisable by the performer, 
but not conspicuous enough to be noticed by any 
one else. 

4. An ordinary die and dicebox, or a champagne 
tumbler to be used in place of the latter. 

5. A tray or plate, about six inches in diameter, 
whereon to throw the die. 

6. The wand. 

Preparation. Velvet mat on table, and laid 
upon it, face down in a row (or a double row, in 
the case of a small mat), the six velvet-backed 
cards. These, so laid, will be undistinguishable by 
spectators at a very short distance from the mat 
itself. Each is laid with its "white" end toward 
the hinder part of the table, so that this shall be 
visible to the performer when standing behind it. 
The marked queen of diamonds is laid on the top 
of the pack. The die and dice-box, on their tray, 



28 LATEST MAGIC 

are laid on the mat, which may partially cover two 
or more of the six cards. 

Presentation. Performer, picking up the pack 
of cards with his right hand, transfers it to his left, 
leaving the queen of diamonds palmed in the right. 
Picking up the tray and its contents with the right 
hand and advancing with it, he offers the pack to 
some member of the company, saying : " Will you 
kindly look well over this pack of cards and satisfy 
yourself that there is nothing exceptional about 
them; and when you have done so give them a 
thorough shuffle. And you, Sir" (handing tray 
and die to another spectator), "please test this die 
in any way your please. Throw it as many times 
as you like. I want you to be quite sure that it 
throws a different number each time, and that it is 
not loaded, or 'faked' in any way. 

"I don't like bothering people to examine things, 
for in most cases it is a mere waste of time. But in 
this case I have a special reason for asking. There 
is something about this pack of cards and this die 
which I myself don't understand; and I shall be 
much obliged to anyone who will help me to do so. 
As a matter of fact, these cards, though quite ordi- 
nary in other respects, are afflicted with a peculiar 
restlessness. They change places without notice 
and without any apparent reason. If I were to 
try to play bridge with them, for instance, I should 
find as likely as not that my best trump had invis- 
ibly left my hand and passed over to the enemy, 



THE DETECTIVE DIE 29 

which would naturally upset my game and get me 
into trouble with my partner. The die is equally 
peculiar, but in another way. From some curious 
effect of sympathy it knows where a given card 
is to be found when I don't know myself. 

"The only possible explanation I can think of 
for their peculiarities is the fact that both cards 
and die were formerly the property of an old 
magician, and that after his death they were shut 
up together for some years in the same box with 
this wand, which also belonged to him, and that 
they have imbibed some of its magical qualities. 
I will give you a sample of their i eccentricities. ' ' ' 

Performer takes back the cards and proceeds to 
force the queen of diamonds on some member of 
the company (a lady for choice). Leaving the 
drawn card for the time being in her hands, he 
asks a gentleman to shuffle and cut the rest of the 
pack and count off from the cut five indifferent 
cards. The card drawn by the lady is then shuffled 
with these, so that its position among the six shall 
be unknown. Performer, taking these from the 
holder, deals them in a row (or double row, as the 
case may be) upon the velvet mat, placing each 
exactly over one of the velvet-backed cards; the 
white hinder edges of these guiding him as to their 
positions. 

"We will now consider these cards as numbered 
in regular order, One, Two, Three, Four, Five, 
Six! Among them somewhere or other, is the 



30 LATEST MAGIC 

card the lady chose. At what number it stands 
nobody knows (I can assure you that I don't), but 
the die will tell us instantly. May I ask you, 
Madam, to name your card. The queen of dia- 
monds; you say? Good! Now will the gentle- 
man who holds the die kindly throw it. What is 
the number thrown? A three?" (Whatever the 
number happens to be.) "The die says the card 
stands number three. Let us see whether that is 
correct. ' ' 

He picks up the two cards occupying the posi- 
tion indicated, and shows the face of the under- 
most, which is of course seen to be the queen of 
diamonds. 

"But now we come to the more remarkable fea- 
ture of the case. I told you about the queer way in 
which the cards change places. Even in this short 
time I daresay the lady's card has got tired of 
being number three, and has moved away to some 
other number. If so, the die will tell us. Throw 
it again, Sir, please." 

This is done, the die bringing up a new num- 
ber, say "five." 

"The die declares that the card has moved, and 
now stands fifth. We shall soon see whether such 
is really the case. First, however, let us see 
whether it has really departed from number 
three." 

Performer has meanwhile replaced the two 
cards just lifted. He now lifts the upper one only, 



THE DETECTIVE DIE 31 

which (being one of the indifferent cards) shows 
a different face. "The queen has gone, yon see. 
And now to ascertain whether she has really 
passed to number five. ' ' 

The two cards standing at that number are lifted 
together, and again a queen of diamonds is exhib- 
ited. The trick can of course be repeated any 
number of times, but it is better not to prolong it 
beyond a third or fourth "move." 

In picking up two cards together, in order to 
show the undermost, they are lifted with second 
finger at top, thumb at bottom and the first and 
third fingers at the sides. Thus "framed" so to 
speak, the two cards will lie squarely the one upon 
the other and be undistinguishable from a single 
card. When it is desired to lift the upper card 
alone, it should be nipped between the second fin- 
ger at top right-hand corner and thumb at bottom 
left-hand corner, when it will be brought away 
clear without difficulty. 

There is one contingency for which the per- 
former must be prepared, namely, that the throw 
of the die may happen to correspond with the 
actual position of the card drawn. Both cards of 
the pair are in this case alike, and the performer 
cannot, at the succeeding throw, show that the 
drawn card is no longer in its late position. This 
possibility is provided for by having the back of 
the card marked as before explained. Should the 
contingency in question arise, the performer, hav- 



32 LATEST MAGIC 

ing meanwhile noted the marked card, does not call 
attention to the disappearance of the queen from 
that number, but proceeds at once to show that it 
has moved to its new position. There is not the 
smallest fear that anyone will notice the omission. 



THE DISSOLVING DICE 
To he tvorked on a Black Art Table 

The requisites for this trick are as under: 

1. Three small billiard balls, one red, two white. 

2. A white half-shell to correspond, vested or 
placed in a pochette. 

3. Three hollow wooden dice, each of such a size 
as just to contain one of the balls, and lined inside 
with velvet to prevent "talking." One side of 
each is left open, but the opening can be closed 
at pleasure by the insertion of a loose side with a 
beveled edge. When this is in position, the die 
appears solid. The inner surface of each of the 
loose sides is also covered with black velvet, so that 
when lying with that side upwards on a black art 
table it is practically invisible. 

4. Three cardboard covers, fitting easily over 
the dice. In preparation for the trick the three 
balls are placed inside the dice, and these are 
placed on the table, open side upward, but with the 
loose sides inserted on top, and the covers over 
them. 



THE DISSOLVING DICE 33 

Presentation. The opening "yarn" may run as 
follows : 

"I once read a story about a man who invented 
a most ingenious piece of furniture of the 'com- 
bination' kind. It started, say, as a table, but by 
giving it a pull here and a push there, it became a 
step-ladder. Another pull and push, and it turned 
into a mangle, or by just turning a button or two, 
you could make it a clothes-horse. 

"The story says that at first it was a great suc- 
cess, but after a little while the thing began to work 
too easily, and sometimes changed of its own 
accord when least expected, which was a drawback. 
It was annoying, naturally, when you were using 
it as a step-ladder, and hanging up a picture, to 
have it suddenly turn into a clothes-horse, and land 
you on the floor. It was vexing, too, when it was 
a table, and the family were seated round it at 
breakast, to have it turn into a mangle, and mangle 
the cups and saucers. 

"I shouldn't care myself to have a piece of fur- 
niture like that: it would make life too exciting. 
But the story gave me an idea. It struck me what 
a convenience it would be, after showing one of my 
little experiments, to be able to turn the articles I 
had been using into what I wanted for the next. I 
haven't got very far as yet, but I have made a 
beginning in a small way, and I will show you how 
it's done. 

"I have here three wooden dice, with a cover for 



34 LATEST MAGIC 

each of them." (Take off all three covers, placing 
each beside its own die. Then, placing one of them 
on the end of your wand, advance with it to the 
company, tacitly . inviting anyone who pleases to 
take it off and examine it.) "I use these covers 
to spare the feelings of the dice at the critical 
moment. Like myself, they are rather bashful. 
They don't mind doing the Jekyll and Hyde busi- 
ness, but they don't like to be seen doing it. By 
the way, there is a very ancient trick (believed to 
have been invented by Noah in the Ark, to amuse 
the boys on a wet Sunday), which is worked by 
means of a sham die fitting over the real one. 
Please take my word for it that I do not use any 
such stale device. If I did, you may be quite sure 
I should not mention it. These are all three gen- 
uine dice. They are rather too large to play back- 
gammon with, but save as to size, they are merely 
big brothers of the regular article. Most of you 
know, no doubt, that in properly made dice, the 
points on opposite sides always together make 
seven. Notice please, that each of these dice has 
the numbers placed correctly." (Taking up one 
of the dice and turning it about.) "You see, five 
on this side, two on that; together, seven. Three 
on this side, four on that; together, seven. Six on 
this side, one on that ; again seven. ' ' 

This is repeated, in a casual way, with the other 
two dice, the object being two-fold, viz. : first, by 
showing all six sides, to induce the belief that the 



THE DISSOLVING DICE 35 

dice are solid, and secondly, to enable the per- 
former, in replacing them on the table, to turn each 
the other way up, so as to bring the loose side 
undermost. This is best done by placing the 
thumb on top of the die, with the first and second 
fingers behind it, then tilting the die over a little 
to the front, and slipping the two fingers under- 
neath it. After showing it on all sides, as above 
mentioned, it is an easy matter to replace it with 
the loose side undermost, as desired. 

"Now, as it happens, I have no immediate use for 
dice, but I want to show you a pretty little effect 
with billiard-balls. Naturally, the thing to be 
done is to change the dice into billiard-balls. It's 
quite easy, if you are provided with my patent 
quick-change combination dice. All you need to 
think about is to take care to have even numbers 
in front." (You turn the dice accordingly, and in 
so doing lift each die a little, and shift it forward 
a couple of inches or so, leaving the loose side 
undisturbed just behind it, the ball travelling for- 
ward with the die, though still covered by it.) 
"You don't see why they should show even num- 
bers? Because they would look 'odd' -if they 
didn't. Quite simple, — when you know it. Now 
I cover all three dice over, to spare their blushes, 
as I explained just now. I wave my wand over 
them and say, 'Presto! Proximo! Change!' 
And we shall find the dice have all turned to bil- 
liard-balls. ' ' 



36 LATEST MAGIC 

The right hand lifts the first cover, pressing its 
sides sufficiently to lift the die within it, exposing 
the ball, and in bringing it down again lands it 
close to one of the wells of the table. The exposed 
ball is picked up with the left hand, and while the 
attention of the company is attracted in that direc- 
tion, the die is allowed to slide out of its case into 
the well, after which the ball and cover are brought 
forward and handed to someone of the company. 

The other two balls are now uncovered in the 
same way, but in this case the dice may be left in 
their covers, the offer of the first cover, found 
empty as above, having sufficiently proved that 
they really disappear. 

"Well, we have got our three billiard-balls. 
Good, so far. Next, can any gentleman oblige me 
with the loan of a billiard table % Nobody offers : 
that's unfortunate. Well, does any gentleman 
happen to have a cue about him. No again"? 
Well, perhaps it would be 'cuerious' if any gen- 
tleman had. I beg your pardon, it slipped out 
unawares. It shall not occur again. 

"It's unfortunate that I can't borrow a billiard 
table and a cue, because it prevents my showing 
you my celebrated break of ninety-three off the 
red with my eyes shut. When I showed it to Gray, 
he turned green, but that is another story. You 
don't believe it? Well, I told you it was a story. 

"Anyhow, as we have got the balls, we must do 
something with them." 



THE DISSOLVING DICE 37 

The sequel may vary, according to the fancy of 
the performer, and his skill in ball-conjuring. 
For lack of a more effective denouement, the trick 
may be brought to a finish as follows : 

Secretly getting the shell ball into his right 
hand, and picking up the red ball with the left, 
the performer proceeds : 

"Well, here we have three balls, one red and two 
white. To prevent ill feeling between them, I 
think we had better make them all the same colour : 
and as the white are in the majority, we will have 
them all white. It is quite easy, if you know how 
to do it. You have only to breathe on the ball, 
give it a roll round in the hand to take the colour 
off, and there you are." 

After breathing on the ball, you bring the right 
hand containing the shell over it, and exhibit it, 
shell in front. You then transfer it in the same 
condition, to the opposite hand. Then pick up one 
of the two white balls with the right hand, transfer 
it to the left and show the two side by side. Then 
pick up and add the third ball, in so doing letting 
the red ball fall into the right hand, and while 
calling attention to the three in the opposite hand, 
drop it into the profonde. You then bring up the 
shell over one or other of the two solid white balls, 
thereby transforming the three into two. Drop 
the solid from the shell into the right hand, making 
the two into one ; finally causing the disappearance 
of this last after the usual manner. 



38 LATEST MAGIC 

If the reader (being an expert) is provided with 
a spare red ball and red shell, he may offer the 
choice as to which shall be the colour of all three, 
finally causing their disappearance after the man- 
ner above described, or Ins own version thereof. 



WHERE IS IT? 

This is another of the tricks dependent on the 
novel application of the black art principle. 

For programme purposes the trick may, if pre- 
ferred, be entitled "The Erratic Shilling." Its 
effect may be broadly described as follows : 

A marked shilling, lent by some member of the 
company, after being professedly magnetised or 
mesmerised by rubbing, is laid upon a black velvet 
mat and covered with a playing card, face down. 
Two other cards are laid (also faces down), one on 
each side of the first, at a few inches distance from 
it, and the audience are given to understand that 
the rubbing has imparted to the coin the power to 
travel from card to card at command, and indeed 
sometimes of its own accord. When the card 
which covered the coin is lifted, this is found to be 
the case. The shilling is no longer where first seen, 
but is found to have placed itself under one of the 
other two cards. The spectators may be invited 
to say under which of the cards they would like the 
coin to pass, when it will place itself accordingly. 



WHERE IS IT? 39 

The coin may be identified by the owner in the 
course of the trick, as well as at its close. 

The requirements for the trick are as follows : 

1. The velvet mat. 

2. A pack of cards, arranged as presently to 
be explained. 

3. Three overlays (see p. 20), each consisting, in 
the present instance, of a court card, backed with 
velvet of similar tint and texture to that with 
which the mat is covered. Three of the edges of 
each card are blackened, but the fourth (one of its 
shorter sides) is left white, and thickened by the 
insertion of an extra slip of white card along that 
end. The effect of this is that, as the card lies 
on the mat, its white edge is visible from that side, 
but from no other position. 

4. Three cards, corresponding with the three 
overlays, which we will suppose to represent the 
queen of clubs, and the knaves of spades and dia- 
monds respectively. The queen is wholly unpre- 
pared, but each of the two knaves has a point of 
fine wire, or a black bristle projecting a sixteenth 
of an inch or so, midway from each of its sides. 
The "queen" overlay is furnished with similar 
points, the object of these being to enable the per- 
former the more easily to lift a given card with or 
without its duplicate overlay. 

In preparing for the trick the two "knave" 
overlays, each covering a shilling, are laid before- 
hand on the mat, velvet side up, eight or ten inches 



40 



LATEST MAGIC 



apart, as shown in Fig. 11, under which circum- 
stances they are invisible to the spectators at a few 
feet distance, and very nearly so to the performer, 
save that their white edges, turned towards him- 
self, furnish him with an exact guide to their posi- 
tion. On the top of the pack are laid, first the two 
knaves. On these the queen overlay, and upper- 
most the unprepared queen. 




Fig. 11 



In presenting the trick the borrowed shilling 
is laid on the mat midway between the two 
overlays already on the table, and is covered with 
the top card of the pack, the third overlay being 
lifted off with it, and resting beneath it with its 
centre as nearly as possible over the coin. 

The two following cards are now laid one on each 
side of the first, as in Fig. 12, each on the corre- 
sponding overlay, the white edges of these, visible 



WHERE IS IT? 



41 



to the performer, but not to the company, serving 
as guides to exact position. When the performer 
desires to show that the coin is not under a given 
card, he raises the card only, lifting it lengthwise, 
and leaving the coin covered by the overlay. 
When he desires to exhibit a coin, he picks up the 
card covering it breadthwise between finger and 
thumb and with it the overlay beneath it. 




Fig. 12 



The introductory patter may run as follows : 
"You have all heard, no doubt, of what is called 
the thimblerig trick, frequently exhibited at fairs 
and on race-courses. Some of you gentlemen may 
even have parted with a little money over it. For 
the benefit of the ladies I will explain what it is. 
"The operator has before him on a small board 
or tray three thimbles, or half walnut-shells. He 
exhibits a small pea, or a pellet the size of a pea, 
which he affectionately calls the ' joker.' This he 



42 LATEST MAGIC 

places under one of the thimbles, all three of which 
he then shifts about on the tray ; inviting the spec- 
tators to bet with him as to which thimble the pea 
is under. He has two or three confederates, who 
bet, and naturally win, but if an outsider is rash 
enough to back his own supposed smartness he 
loses ; for as a matter of fact the pea is not placed 
under either of the thimbles at all until after the 
bet is made, when it is skilfully introduced under 
whichever thimble best suits the performer. 

' ' The trick is in truth a mere affair of dexterity ; 
the performer having acquired by long practise 
the power of placing the pea under any thimble 
he pleases. What I propose to show you is a sim- 
ilar effect, but more surprising, because, as you will 
see, there is no room for dexterity, or indeed any 
form of trickery ; so that I have to depend entirely 
upon my magic power. I shall use a shilling, as 
being more easily seen than a pea, and three cards 
from this pack to represent the thimbles. 

"Will some gentleman oblige me with the loan 
of a shilling; marked in such a way that he may 
be sure of knowing it again." 

Receiving the coin in his right hand, the per- 
former makes believe to transfer it to his left; 
wherein he already has a shilling of his own. 
Surreptitiously depositing the coin lent to him 
behind the pack of cards on the table, he exhibits 
the substitute on the palm of the left hand and rubs 
it with the fingers of the right. 



WHERE IS IT? 43 

"I do this," he explains, "in order to drive out 
all adverse magnetisms, and to substitute my own. 
I will now put the coin in full view on the table 
and cover it with a card. See that I do so fairly." 

After laying down the coin he takes the top card 
of the pack, and with it, unknown to the specta- 
tors, the overlay beneath it, and lowers them on to 
the coin. 

" Notice particularly, please, where I have 
placed the coin, and notice too that I do not touch 
it again. I will now place two more cards, one on 
each side of the first one. ' ' He does so, letting the 
spectators see clearly that there is nothing in the 
hand save the card itself, and then slowly lowering 
it exactly on to one of the two overlays on the 
table. "Now I make a few magnetic passes over 
the cards, so. " He waves his wand backwards and 
forwards above the cards, at a few inches' distance. 

"And now, where is the coin? Still under the 
middle card, you would say ? You are mistaken. ' ' 
He lifts that card lengthwise, leaving the overlay 
covering the coin; then replacing the card. "It is 
no longer there, you see. In point of fact it has 
passed under this card." 

He lifts one of the side cards breadthwise, the 
overlay coming with it, and exposes the coin 
beneath it. "Here it is, you see. We will try 
once more. ' ' He replaces the card and then shows, 
in like manner, that the coin has passed to the 
card on the opposite side. After one or two trans- 



44 LATEST MAGIC 

positions have been shown, the audience being 
allowed to say under which card the coin shall 
appear, and the last shift having been to one of 
the side jjositions, the performer says: "I should 
like you to be satisfied that it is really the marked 
coin and no other, that wanders about in this way. 
I will ask the gentleman who lent it to me to verify 
his mark." 

He picks up from one of the side positions the 
coin last uncovered and brings it forward, but in 
transit ' ' switches ' ' it for the borrowed coin, which 
he has a moment previously picked up from its 
resting place behind the pack. It is, of course, 
this last which he offers for identification, again 
exchanging it for "the substitute before replacing 
this in its former position. The final reproduc- 
tion must be from under the centre card, the per- 
former again ringing the changes before returning 
the coin to the owner. At the close of the trick all 
three cards are placed on the pack, the centre over- 
lay going with them. The other two overlays are 
left on the mat, each still covering its own coin, 
and the whole being carried off together. If the 
mat is of the folding kind it can be closed before 
removal, effectually concealing the accessories 
used in the trick. 

Some amount of skill will be found necessary 
to pick up the card with or without the correspond- 
ing overlay, as may be desired. The difficulty 
however speedily disappears with practice.- On 



WHEEE IS IT? 45 

the other hand, the trick is well worth the trouble 
needed to master it, for if the spectators are con- 
vinced (as, given perfect execution, they should 
be) that it is really the borrowed coin which trav- 
els about as it appears to do, nothing-short of gen- 
uine magic will furnish an adequate explanation. 
The performer is of course by no means bound 
to adopt the mise en scene above suggested. If 
preferred, the patter might be based on a supposed 
plot between the two knaves to rob the queen, the 
coin representing the stolen property, secretly 
passed from the one to the other when either was 
accused of the theft. The story might conclude 
with an appeal by the queen to a benevolent 
magician, through whose good offices her property 
is brought back to its original position, and in due 
course restored to her. The touch of the mystic 
wand would naturally play an important part in 
effecting the restoration. 



CARD TRICKS 

ARITHMETIC BY MAGIC 

Preparation. The two "flower-pots" (see page 
5) , separated, are placed upon the table. Also the 
card mat (see page 1), loaded with the ten of any 
given suit, say diamonds, taken from the pack per- 
former is about to use, and a double-faced card, 
representing on the one side the seven, and on the 
other the three of the same suit. The deuce and 
five of same suit to be laid on the top of the pack. 

Performer, advancing pack in hand, palms off 
the two top cards, and offers the rest to be shuffled. 
This done, he forces these two cards on different 
persons. On receiving back one of them, he brings 
it to the top ; executes a false shuffle leaving it in 
the same position ; brings it again to the middle by 
the pass, and has the second card replaced upon it ; 
then, once again making the pass, brings both 
together to the top. 

(The use of the Charlier pass is here recom- 
mended.) 

The patter may be to something like the follow- 
ing effect: "Two cards have been chosen, ladies 
and gentlemen. I can't say what they are, but I 
can very easily find out. I shall simply order 

46 



ARITHMETIC BY MAGIC 47 

them to rise up and paw the air. It all depends on 
the strength of the will. I myself happen to have 
a very strong will, in fact, I don't know anyone 
who has a stronger will, except my wife. I exert 
my will, and say, 'first card, rise !' and up it comes, 
as you see. ' ' 

Stepping well back from the spectators, so that 
they cannot distinguish from what part of the pack 
the card comes, he works up the hindmost card 
by the familiar "hand" method. ("Modern 
Magic," p. 129.) 

"Here we have one of the two cards. Let us see 
what it is. The five of diamonds! Good! And 
now for the other. Second card ; rise ! Up comes 
another card, you see, the deuce of diamonds. 
Those are the cards which were drawn, are they 
not? 

"Now the question arises, 'what shall we do with 
them?' It is a pity the ladies didn't choose bigger 
cards. You can't 'go nap' 1 on a deuce and a five, 
can you? I think I can't do better than use them 
to show you a little experiment in conjurer's arith- 
metic. Will some young mathematician among 
the audience kindly tell us what two and five, added 
together, make?" (He waits for reply, but if 
none, pretends to hear one.) "Seven! Right 
first time. And if you take two from SiVe how 
many remain? Three? Good again. Really 

i To endeavor to take all five tricks in. the game of Napoleon. 



48 LATEST MAGIC 

there are lot of clever people about, if you know 
where to look for them. 

"Now I want to show you that the cards know 
all about it themselves; in fact, they are just as 
clever at doing sums as we are. I will take these 
two cards and drop them into one of these pretty 
flower-pots. Let me show you first that it is quite 
empty. ' ' 

He lays the cards on the little mat while show- 
ing inside of flower-pot (the one with secret 
pocket), then picks up mat, and transfers it from 
hand to hand, showing, without remark, that the 
hands are otherwise empty, and lets the two cards 
slide off it into the flower-pot, the concealed cards 
naturally going with them. 

"Now, ladies and gentlemen, what shall the cards 
do for you, the addition, or the subtraction sum? 
It is all the same to me. The addition? Very 
good. They can't talk, so they will call another 
card from the pack to give you the answer. Yes, 
here we have it. Five — and two — are — seven. ' ' 

As he names each card, he produces it from the 
flower-pot, the third being the double-faced card, 
shown as the seven. 

"Now I can hear what some of you are thinking. 
Oh, yes! I often hear what people think. You 
are thinking that if you had said subtraction 
instead of addition, I should have been in what is 
popularly called a hole. But you are mistaken. 
Now we will ask the cards to do the subtraction 



THOSE NAUGHTY KNAVES 49 

sum. The seven will go back to the pack, and send 
another card in its place." He drops all three 
cards back into the flower-pot, and brings them up 
as before, save that this time the trick card is made 
to face the other way. "Five — less two — are 
three! Quod erat demonstrandum, as our old 
friend Euclid used to say when he had just floored 
a new poser. As the cards seem to be in a good 
humour, we will try them once more, and see if we 
can get them to do a little multiplication." (He 
drops the three cards into the flower-pot, as before, 
but this time lets the fake card fall into 
the pocket.) "Five times — two — are 'ten.' " 
(Showing the two cards and the ten, in that order.) 

"Now I will ask some gentleman to see that these 
three cards really belong to the pack. The three 
and seven went back to it as soon as they were done 
with. The flower-pot, as you see, is again empty. ' ' 
(He shows by lifting it that apparently it is so.) 

If the first choice of the audience is for subtrac- 
tion the order of production will naturally be 
varied accordingly. 

THOSE NAUGHTY KNAVES 

This item may be described, if preferred, as 
"Knavish Tricks." 

Requirements. Card mat loaded with knaves of 
spades, hearts and diamonds, taken from the pack 
in use. Knave of clubs on top of pack. 



50 LATEST MAGIC 

Presentation. Advance, palming off the knave 
of clubs, and offer pack to be shuffled. When it is 
returned, force the knave on one of the company. 
Borrow a hat, and after showing that it is empty, 
place it, crown downwards, on the table. Receive 
back the drawn card upon the mat, remarking that 
you will place it in the hat, which you do accord- 
ingly, the other three knaves going in with it. 
Then, assuming a worried expression, deliver pat- 
ter to something like the following effect. 

"I am afraid, ladies and gentlemen, that I shall 
not be able to show you the experiment I had 
intended. I have a telepathic nerve in my left 
thumb, a sort of private fire alarm, only more so, 
which always gives me warning when things are 
going wrong, and I feel it now. If you have read 
'Macbeth,' you will remember that one of the 
witches says : 

' By the pricking of my thumbs, 
Something wicked this way comes.' 

"I have often wondered whether that old lady 
could have been a sort of great-great-great grand- 
mother of mine. Magic certainly runs in the 
family, and we may have inherited it from her. 
Anyhow, I have just the same sort of sensation 
myself. Unfortunately, in my case the warning is 
incomplete. I dare say you will remember that 
story (I rather think it's in Macaulay's 'Lays of 
Ancient Rome'), about Little Queen Cole. Her 



THOSE NAUGHTY KNAVES 51 

Majesty had the misfortune to develop a mole upon 
her nose, and King Cole was worried about it. He 
consulted Old Moore and Za$kiel, and all the lead- 
ing astrologers of the day, but all they could tell 
him was 

'A mole upon the face 
Shows that something will take place, 
But not what that something will be. ' 

That's just my case. My prophetic thumb merely 
tells me that something is wrong, but doesn't say 
what. It may be drains, or the house on fire, or 
something in the county court. You never can 
tell! 

"Of course it's nothing of that sort now. In 
the present case it has no doubt something to do 
with the experiment I want to show you. You 
chose your card quite freely, did you not, Madam? 
It never matters to me in the least what card is 
chosen, with the exception of one particular card, 
which is a holy terror. May I ask if you happened 
to draw the knave of clubs'? Yes? I feared as 
much. The knave of clubs is the bane of my life. 
He is always endeavouring to get himself chosen, 
and then he does his best to upset my arrange- 
ments. And the worst of it is, he leads away the 
other three knaves. The four of them form a 
secret society, which they call ' The cheerful black- 
guards. ' The knave of clubs is the president, and 
the rest have to do just as he tells them. He com- 



52 LATEST MAGIC 

municates with them by means of a sort of wire- 
less telegraphy, and when he calls they go to him 
at once." (You here make the " click.") "Did 
you hear that sound? That's his call now, 
despatched by wireless from the hat to the very 
middle of the pack. I have no doubt that we shall 
find that the other three knaves have already left it, 
and joined him in the hat. ' ' (Make believe to look 
over the pack, and hand it to a spectator.) "Yes! 
just as I thought: they are all gone." (To a spec- 
tator.) "See for yourself, sir. Not a single 
knave left. And here they all are, in the hat." 
(Whence they are produced accordingly.) 

As the "click" in some cases adds much to the 
effect of a trick, and as it may to some readers be 
an unfamiliar sleight, I may pause to explain that 
it is executed as follows : Take the pack in either 
hand, held upright between forefinger and thumb, 
a little more than half-way down, with the middle 
finger curled up behind it as in Fig. 13. With the 
tip of the third finger bend back the extreme bot- 
tom corners of the last half dozen or so of the 
cards, allowing them to escape again smartly. 
The sound made by the corners in springing back 
again constitutes the "click." It needs a little 
practice, but if the cards are held properly, and 
the sleight worked smartly, the sound will be 
audible at a considerable distance, whilst the move- 
ment of the finger producing it is quite invisible 
to the spectators. 



THOSE NAUGHTY KNAVES 



53 

You 



But we have not yet done with our trick, 
may resume as follows : 

"I will give you a farther illustration of what I 
have to put up with from the knaves. I should 
like you to be satisfied that I have nothing to do 




Fig. 13 



with their bad behaviour." (You palm off the 
three top cards, and with the same hand offer the 
four knaves to a spectator. "Will you, sir, make 
sure that these really are the four knaves, and then 
place them here on the top of the pack," — offered 



54 LATEST MAGIC 

with the left hand. When the knaves have been 
laid upon it, you transfer it to the opposite hand, 
and palm on to them the three concealed cards, 
but immediately slide them oft' again, with the 
uppermost of the four knaves beneath them. You 
hold them up in a careless way, so that the 
audience, catching sight of this card, may be con- 
firmed in the belief that the cards exhibited in the 
right hand are really the four knaves. 

"Here we have the four knaves, at present all 
together. I will now distribute them in different 
parts of the pack, as far apart as possible. One 
here, nearly at the bottom, one a little higher up, 
another about the middle, and this last" (you show 
it carelessly), "close to the top." (This, being a 
genuine knave, must be placed among the other 
knaves.) "They could hardly be placed farther 
apart than that: but to make things a little more 
difficult for them, I will ask some lady to cut the 
cards." 

This done, and the cards handed back to you, 
you repeat the click. "There it is again : the wire- 
less signal. You can all bear witness that I have 
nothing to do with the matter. Now, Sir, will you 
kindly examine the pack, and unless I am much 
mistaken, you will find that the other three knaves 
have answered Black Jack's call, and that the four 
cheerful blackguards have got together again, in 
which case, with your permission, I will leave them 
severely alone, and try some other experiment." 



MAGNETIC MAGIC 55 

The expert will recognise this last effect as a 
" chestnut" among card tricks, but it is none the 
worse on that account, and it forms a particularly 
appropriate sequel to the principal trick. 

If the performer possesses the "flower-pot," one 
of these will naturally be used in place of the hat. 

MAGNETIC MAGIC 

Requirements. Card mat, loaded with a single 
known card (precise nature optional). Pack of 
cards with corresponding card at top. A horse- 
shoe magnet, the larger the better for the sake of 
effect. The two flower-pots, placed at some dis- 
tance apart, preferably on separate tables. 

We will suppose that the card selected for the 
purpose of the trick is the ten of spades. Per- 
former advances, and delivers patter to something 
like the following effect. 

"By way of a change, I should like now to show 
you a little experiment in magnetism, but mag- 
netism of a new kind. The old sort was a com- 
paratively poor affair. It was only useful with 
iron or steel. Anything else it wouldn't attract 
for nuts. My sort of magnetism is a very superior 
article. It will attract all sorts of things, so long 
as they are not too heavy, like a sack of coals, or a 
lawyer's bill. So far, I have been chiefly experi- 
menting with cards, and I will show you how it 
works. 



56 LATEST MAGIC 

"I want three ladies each to choose a card from 
this pack." (He forces the ten of spades, allow- 
ing the other two cards to be chosen freely, and 
takes all three back, face down, on the mat, keep- 
ing in mind which of them is the forced card. "I 
will take one of these cards." (He picks up the 
forced card, and holds it aloft.) "Please all 
notice what it is: I don't want to see it myself. I 
drop it into this pretty flower-pot" (actually drop- 
ping it into the secret pocket). "And now as to 
these other two." (He picks them up and shows 
them, then replacing them on the mat.) "These 
I will place in the other flower-pot. First, how- 
ever, I will show you that at present it is empty. ' ' 
He does so, and then lets the two cards slide off 
the mat into the pot, the concealed card going with 
them. 

"Now I take this magnet. It is a very power- 
ful magnet, and I make it still more vigorous by 
rubbing it on my left coat sleeve. Do you know 
why on the left? You all give it up? Because in 
this case the left happens to be right. Simple, 
when you know it, isn't it? Again, you will 
observe that one-half of this magnet is painted 
red. Can you guess why that is? It's so that 
when it is wanted it is sure to be 'reddy.' I hear 
a lady smile! Thank you so much! This is the 
eleven hundred and third time I have let off that 
little impromptu joke, and no one has ever laughed 
at it till now. 



THE TELEPATHIC TAPE 57 

"Well, as I was saying, or as I was going to say 
when the lady interrupted me — I mean compli- 
mented me, by smiling — Upon my word, I've for- 
gotten for the moment what I was going to say, but 
I daresay it was of no consequence, so we'll skip 
it, and proceed at once to 'business as usual.' 

"Observe, I just draw the magnet slowly across 
from the one flower-pot to the other, when the 
single card, being naturally the weaker, will be 
drawn out of its own flower-pot, and join the other 
two." (Looks into flower-pot holding the pair.) 

"Yes, it has found its way, as you see." (Lifts 
the pot, and shows that the third card is on the table 
with the other two.) "And as it's a well-known 
fact that nobody but a bird can be in two places at 
the same time, it naturally follows that it is no 
longer in this other pot, which is once more 
empty." (Lifts it up and shows that it is so.) 

Variation. If the flower-pots are not available, 
the single card may be placed in a card box, or 
other suitable appliance adapted for causing its 
disappearance, the other two, with the concealed 
card, being dropped from the mat into a borrowed 
hat. 

THE TELEPATHIC TAPE 

Requirements. Two or three yards of half -inch 
tape or ribbon, wound on a reel, to which its inner 
end is secured, and having a loop on its outer end. 
Coin mat made adhesive, and two packs of cards, 



58 LATEST MAGIC 

which we will call A and B respectively. From 
pack A take a court card (say the queen of dia- 
monds) , and press it face down against the waxed 
side of the mat : then turn this over, and place the 
rest of the pack upon its unprepared side. On the 
top of pack B lay the corresponding card, in readi- 
ness for forcing. This pack also to be placed on 
table. 

Presentation. Advance with pack A on the mat. 
Invite a gentleman to take it in his own hands 
and after shuffling, to pick out a card, and without 
looking at it, lay it face down on the mat. Re- 
mark: k 'I have asked you not to look at the card, 
because I find people fancy I find out by what is 
called thought-reading, and if you don't know the 
card yourself, I can't find it out that way, can I? 
You are sure you don't know what card you have 
taken? I can honestly say that I don't. Now 
please notice that I don't look at it, or even touch 
it — I will place it here, where you can all keep an 
eye on it. You had better keep the other eye on 
me." 

You accordingly place the mat on the table, in 
transit keeping the card just laid upon it in place 
by the pressure of the thumb, and just as you 
reach the table, under cover of your own body, turn 
over the mat, so as to bring the adhering card 
uppermost. 

You then say, picking up the reel, "I must now 
introduce to your notice my telepathic tape. Like 



A CAED COMEDY 59 

myself, it isn't anything particular to look at, but 
it has an extraordinary talent for finding out 
things; even secrets that people don't know them- 
selves. Now you will admit that the name of that 
card on the table is at present an Al, copperbot- 
tomed secret. Even the gentleman who chose the 
card doesn't know what it is; you don't know; 
in fact nobody knows. Nothing could well be more 
secret than that. But this tape will find it out. 
Will you, Sir," — (addressing the gentleman who 
chose the card) "be kind enough to pass this loop 
over your left little finger. Thank you, and now 
I want some lady to assist me. Perhaps you will 
oblige, Madam?" A sufficient length of the tape 
is unrolled, and the reel placed in the lady's hands. 
"And now I will ask you to do me the further 
favor of taking a card from this other pack." 
(The second queen is forced on the lady.) 

"Now, Madam, what was the card the gentleman 
chose? You don't know? Oh, yes, you do. The 
tape has told you. Unless it has betrayed me for 
the first time in my experience, it will have com- 
pelled you by an effect of sympathy to draw the 
very same kind of card as the one freely chosen, as 
you will remember from the other pack. What 
card did you draw? The queen of diamonds?" 
(Goes to table, and turns up card on tray.) "The 
tape was right, you see. The card the gentleman 
drew is also a queen of diamonds. ' ' 

In default of the card mat, the trick can be 



60 LATEST MAGIC 

equally well performed by the aid of the card-box, 
or any other appliance for "changing" a card. 

A CARD COMEDY 

This may be otherwise described for programme 
purposes as. "A Royal Row," or "A Row in a 
Royal Family," 

Preparation. Card mat loaded with two kings 
of hearts: one of them taken from the pack 
to be used : the other a spare card. The king of 
clubs and queen of hearts to be laid on top of pack. 
The two flower-pots on table. 

Presentation. Advancing to the company, palm 
off the two top cards, and hand the pack to be 
shuffled. This done, force the palmed cards on 
two different persons. Then say, "I want you to 
take notice that I do not handle or tamper in any 
way with either of the cards you have chosen. 
Please lay them yourselves face down on this mat. 
Thank you. Now still without touching them I 
will put them temporarily in this elegant flower- 
pot, which you observe is quite empty. You see 
that it has neither top nor bottom, and nothing 
between. You couldn't have anything much 
emptier than that, could you?" 

Having duly exhibited the flower-pot (this by 
the way must be the one without pocket) you let 
the two drawn cards slide off the mat into it, the 
two concealed kings going with them. Then, 



A CARD COMEDY 61 

assuming a perplexed air, you say, "I don't know 
why it is, but I have that peculiar sensation in 
my left thumb that always means that something 
has gone wrong. What it is in this case I can't 
imagine, but I must find out before we go further. 
As the two chosen cards have passed out of my 
hands, I may now ask the ladies who drew them 
to name them. 

"The queen of hearts and the king of clubs, you 
say % Ah ! that accounts for it. When those two 
cards come together there is sure to be trouble. 
The queen of hearts is a bit of a flirt, and the king 
of hearts is very jealous, particularly of the king 
of clubs, who is rather a gay dog, though he is old 
enough to know better. I fancy I hear some sort 
of commotion going on in the flower-pot." (You 
look into it.) "Yes, it is just as I feared. The 
king of hearts has found out that his queen has gone 
off with the king of clubs, and has followed the 
queen post-haste. Here he is, you see." (You 
plunge hand into flower-pot, and take out and 
exhibit the two drawn cards, and with them one of 
the two kings of hearts.) "It's too bad, for as a 
matter of fact the queen of hearts doesn't really 
care two-pence about the king of clubs. In fact 
she has even been known to call him a giddy old 
kipper. 

"But I can't have my arrangements upset by 
these little family jars. To teach the king of 
hearts better manners I shall put him in solitary 



62 LATEST MAGIC 

confinement. We will drop him into the other 
flower-pot, which, as yon see, is also empty." 
(The card is in this case not dropped through the 
pot, but into the pocket.) 

"Now we shall be able to get on. No! my left 
thumb tells me that there is still something not 
quite right." (Glance into second flower-pot.) 
"Upon my word, this is too bad. The king of 
hearts has already got away and followed the 
queen again. ' ' (Lift flower-pot, and show that the 
king has disappeared.) "I thought I had him 
safe, but his prison, as you see, is empty, and here 
he is again in the first flower-pot." (Show the 
three cards accordingly.) "He is too many for 
me ; I can't show you what I had intended. I must 
give it up and try something else." 

Variation. Load mat with a single king of 
hearts and the queen of clubs, the latter taken from 
the pack. Proceed as before up to the putting of 
the king in prison, and then exhibit the queen of 
clubs, as having come in pursuit of her spouse, the 
patter being modified accordingly. The impris- 
oned king of hearts will still be found to have 
escaped, but in this case to have returned to the 
pack. 

For lack of the two flower-pots, the drawn cards 
may be dropped with the concealed pair into a bor- 
rowed hat, and the jealous king made to escape 
from a card-box, or some similar appliance. 

Apropos of the card-box, by the way, I have 



A CARD COMEDY 63 

always had a sort of affection for this in its oldest 
and simplest form, viz., the reversible flat box with 
loose flap falling from the one into the other half 
at pleasure. I should not recommend the use of 
it at a school treat, as there would be much risk 
of some demon small boy proclaiming to all whom 
it might concern that he "knows how that's done," 
but before an average mixed audience its use is 
safe enough. Should one of the spectators happen 
to be acquainted with the box he will probably 
smile in a superior way, pluming himself on having 
a little inside information, though he may be no 
nearer the complete solution of the trick than the 
rest of the company. 

The expert will easily guard himself against 
even this small risk. For example, he may use a 
duplicate box, innocent of guile, ostensibly merely 
to contain the cards he is about to use, and after 
turning the pack out of it upon the table, switch 
this (obviously empty) box for the faked box to be 
used later, or after using the latter he may extract 
the fake and the superseded card during the jour- 
ney back to his table, where the box will of course 
be inspection-proof. 

Better still, he may make matters absolutely safe 
by using an improved box, which has been chris- 
tened the "Fast and Loose" card-box. This is a 
recent invention of an Italian wizard named 
Veroni, of Glasgow (an old soldier of Garibaldi). 
It is an idealised version of the old flat box, being 



64 LATEST MAGIC 

of the same shape, but a trifle larger. The loose 
slab is retained, but it is only loose when the per- 
former desires it to be so. The box may be 
handled beforehand with the utmost freedom, and 
after a card has been placed in it it may be closed 
and re-opened any number of times, nothing hap- 
pening till, "Presto," a mere touch in the right 
place, and the flap is free. When the box is now 
closed, this falls into the opposite portion, con- 
cealing the card, or producing another ; and again 
locking itself, automatically, in its new position. 
The box in this condition will again stand the 
closest scrutiny. 

Whether this box is yet placed upon the market 
I cannot say (having myself been favoured with a 
sight of an " advance" model), but it will certainly 
commend itself to all who appreciate a good thing 
in the way of ingenuity of contrivance and 
mechanical finish. 

A ROYAL TUG OF WAR 

Preparation. Card mat to be loaded with king 
of hearts and king of diamonds, not taken from 
the pack in use. Flower-pots on table. 

Performer advances with ordinary pack, deliv- 
ering patter to something like the following effect. 
"It is not generally known, ladies and gentlemen, 
what a lot of human nature there is about a pack 
of cards. They have their likes and dislikes, and 



A ROYAL TUG OF WAR 65 

their little tempers, just as we have. Some of 
them are bosom friends; others again hate each 
other like rival suitors to the same best girl. The 
four kings are generally pretty friendly, but there 
is a good deal of emulation between them, par- 
ticularly between the two red kings on the one 
hand, and the two black ones on the other. Each 
pair claims to be the stronger, and they are always 
pleased to have a chance of putting the matter to 
the test. 

' ' I will give you an illustration of this, by allow- 
ing them to hold a little tug of war. They have 
already had six trials, and each side has won three 
of them. This evening we will let them play a 
final game, which is to settle the matter. Will you, 
sir, kindly pick out the four kings for me, and lay 
them on this little tray. Thank you!" (This 
done, performer lays mat with cards on table.) 

"I will drop the two red kings into this flower- 
pot." He takes them from the mat and after 
showing them drops them into the flower-pot (in 
reality into the pocket), "and the black ones into 
this other." (The black kings are allowed to slide 
directly off the mat, into the flower-pot, the con- 
cealed pair going with them. "Are your Majes- 
ties ready? Silence gives consent! Then Go!" 

He waits a moment or two, and then looks over 
into the flower-pot with the pocket, "Nothing has 
happened yet. Yes, there goes the king of dia- 
monds, pulled over to the other side. There's not 



66 . LATEST MAGIC 

much chance now for the poor king of hearts, left 
single-handed. He won't hold out long. Yes! 
Now he is gone too. ' ' 

Performer lifts flower-pot, with fingers inside 
pressing against pocket, and shows it apparently 
empty. "And here, in the other flower-pot" (lifts 
it and shows the four cards lying together on 
table) "are all four Kings. One more score to 
black. You didn't see the cards go? Of course 
you didn't; because they fly horizontally, like the 
aeroplanes, and they go so fast that they get there 
almost before they have started." 

SYMPATHETIC CARDS 

Preparation. Card mat loaded Avith two cards 
of different denomination, say the queen of clubs 
and the knave of diamonds, taken from the pack. 
Flower-pots on table. 

Presentation. Force the corresponding cards 
of same colour (in this case the queen of spades 
and the knave of hearts), lay the pack aside, and 
take the drawn cards back face down on the mat, 
leaving them thus on table till needed. The patter 
may run as follows : 

"As I think I have mentioned before, the cards 
of a pack, from long association, become a sort of 
family. They have their likes and dislikes, just 
as human beings have. In particular, there is a 
curious bond of sympathy between each pair of 



SYMPATHETIC CARDS 67 

the same colour, say the king of hearts and the king 
of diamonds, or the ten of clubs and ten of spades. 
If they are parted, and they possibly can, they will 
get together again. 

"I will try to give you an example with the cards 
that have been drawn. We will put them for the 
moment in this pretty flower-pot, which, as you see, 
is quite empty." (Show by lifting it up, that it is 
so, and then drop the two cards from the mat into 
it, the concealed pair going with them.) "They 
will only require to be assisted by a gentle electric 
current, which I shall create by waving my wand, 
so. 

"Before we go any further, will the ladies who 
drew the cards say what they were, — I don't mind 
asking you now, because they have passed out of 
my control. The queen of spades and the knave 
of hearts, you say? A fortunate choice, for the 
queen of spades and the knave of hearts happen to 
be particular friends, so I think we may now be 
sure of success. Now to establish the wireless 
wave, and I doubt not the queen of clubs and the 
knave of diamonds will speedily find them. 
(Make any appropriate gesture with wand.) 

"Did you notice a little flash, like the striking 
of a very inferior lucif er match in a gale of wind ? 
That's when they went. Quick work, isn't it? 
The cards were timed by two gentlemen one even- 
ing, each with his own watch. By the one gentle- 
man's watch they started at one minute past nine, 



68 LATEST MAGIC 

and by the other gentleman's watch, they arrived 
at one minute to nine, so it is clear that they must 
have made the journey in two minutes less than no 
time. But let us make sure that they have 
arrived." Lift the flower-pot, and show the four 
cards lying on the table together. "And now, to 
convince you that there is no deception, will some 
lady or gentleman kindly look through the pack, 
and make sure that the queen of clubs and knave 
of diamonds have really left* it." Which is found 
to be the case. 

The trick may of course be worked with any two 
pairs of cards, the mat being loaded and the cor- 
responding cards forced accordingly. 

TELL-TALE FINGERS 

The discovery, in some more or less mysterious 
way, of an unknown card is one of the stock feats 
of the conjurer, and indeed in one shape or another 
is one of the most hackneyed of card tricks. But 
the wise magician never discards a good trick sim- 
ply because it is an old one. He repolishes it, adds 
a bit here, takes away a bit there, presents it in a 
new shape and with new patter, and behold! the 
"chestnut" of yesterday becomes a latest novelty 
of today. 

To obtain the maximum effect from a trick of the 
above kind, it is necessary in the first place to con- 
vince the spectator that the drawn card cannot pos- 



TELL-TALE FINGERS 69 

sibly be known beforehand to the performer ; and 
in the second place to persuade him that it is dis- 
covered in some actually impossible (and therefore 
magical) way; taking advantage, where possible, 
of some known scientific truth which may lend 
colour to your suggestion. It is surprising, in con- 
juring matters, how much even the smallest per- 
centage of fact increases the power of the average 
spectator for swallowing fiction. The patter for 
the trick which follows has been arranged upon 
these lines. 

The requisites for the trick are a pack of cards 
from which three known cards have been with- 
drawn and palmed (or so placed to be in instant 
readiness for palming), a hand-mirror, and a silk 
handkerchief. 

The introductory oration may run somewhat as 
follows : 

"You all know, ladies and gentlemen, what an 
important part finger-prints now play in the detec- 
tion of crime. Happily there is no connection 
between conjuring and crime, beyond the fact that 
they both begin with a C. No conjurer that I 
know of has ever murdered anybody or been mur- 
dered himself, and when a conjurer borrows a half- 
crown, he always — well, almost always returns it. 
But each one of us, whether criminal or curate, 
burglar or bishop, possesses a definite set of finger- 
prints, quite unlike those of anybody else. And, 
what is more, we cannot touch anything, ever so 



70 LATEST MAGIC 

lightly, without leaving upon it our sign manual 
in the shape of a more or less perfect impression 
of our fingers, imperceptible to ourselves, but quite 
visible to the expert in such matters. 

"Practice in distinguishing such points forms 
a highly interesting study. Of course it must be 
pursued with a proper amount of tact, or it may 
get you into trouble, as in the case of a gentleman 
I once heard of who took up the study with more 
zeal than discretion. He said to his wife, not lead- 
ing up to the subject gently, as he should have done, 
but in a peremptory sort of way, 'Maria, I want 
your finger-prints.' Unfortunately, Maria was 
rather a quick-tempered lady, and she had just 
been having a few words, of a hostile nature, with 
the cook. She slapped his face, and said, 'Well, 
now you've got 'em.' He had! They were very 
distinct, but not quite in the shape he wanted. I 
am going to ask permission to read some of your 
finger-prints, but, I trust without fear of such 
painful results. 

"In the first place, I should like this pack of 
cards to be thoroughly well shuffled." 

While this is done, performer palms the three 
known cards, and when the pack is returned, pro- 
ceeds to force them on different members of the 
company. Each of the drawers is requested to 
allow his or her card to lie for a few moments face 
down on the palm of the outspread hand. The 
cards drawn are then returned to the pack, which 



TELL-TALE FINGERS 71 

is again shuffled, and spread face upward on the 
table. 

"Each of the three cards which have been drawn 
now has a complete set of finger-prints upon its 
surface, but there are no doubt others on many 
other cards, the result of previous handling. To 
enable me to distinguish the right ones, I must ask 
each person who chose a card to give me, for the 
purpose of comparison, a fresh impression, on 
the glass of this mirror. First, however, we 
must remove any prints that may already be upon 
it." 

He accordingly breathes upon the glass, and 
wipes it carefully with the handkerchief. 

"Now, Sir" (to the person who first drew), "will 
you kindly press your hand flat against the glass. 
Thank you. Not a very clear impression, but I 
dare say it will be good enough. I have now only 
to discover the card bearing the same imprint, and 
I shall know that it was the one you drew." (He 
picks it out from the exposed cards on the table.) 

"Here it is, I think, the of " (as the case 

may be) . 

The other two cards are then discovered after 
the same fashion. As the performer knows 
beforehand what they are, this will give him little 
trouble, but he will be wise, for the sake of effect, 
not to discover them too readily. For the same 
reason, great importance should ostensibly be 
attached to the thorough cleaning of the hand mir- 



72 LATEST MAGIC 

ror before each new attempt, so as to get a clear 
impression. 

The trick as above described can be worked with 
any pack of cards, but where those used are the 
performer's own property, he can make it even 
more effective by marking the three cards to be 
freed in such a way as to be distinguishable (by 
himself only) by their backs. The drawers in this 
case are requested to press their hand against the 
back of the card, and the cards are spread face 
down upon the table, the performer apparently not 
knowing the nature of the card indicated to him 
until he has turned it up. 

DIVINATION DOUBLY DIFFICULT 

This trick, though it merely rests upon a com- 
bination of methods already familiar to the expert, 
may as a whole fairly claim to be a complete nov- 
elty. The mise en scene is so simple, and the 
room for deception apparently so small, that to the 
uninitiated it seems like a genuine miracle. 
Unlike most card tricks, it is even better adapted 
to the stage than to the drawing-room. 

The effect of the trick, baldly stated, is that the 
performer divines the nature of nine cards, 
selected apparently quite haphazard, and then 
picks out the corresponding cards from another 
pack, freely shuffled and covered by a handker- 
chief, 



DIVINATION DOUBLY DIFFICULT 73 

The requirements for the trick consist of two 
packs of cards, and an envelope with adhesive flap, 
of such a size as to accommodate one of them. One 
of the two packs is a "forcing" pack, consisting of 
three cards only, each seventeen times repeated. 
The cards of each kind are however not grouped 
all together, as is usually the case, but are arranged 
after the manner explained in More Magic (p. 13), 
viz. : assuming the three cards to be the knave of 
clubs, the seven of spades, and the nine of dia- 
monds, the pack will consist of groups of those 
three cards, in the same order, repeated through- 
out. The effect of this arrangement is that, 
wherever the pack be cut, the three cards above 
or below the cut will always be a set of those three 
cards : and the same result follows, however many 
times the pack may be cut, or however many such 
groups may have been taken from it. 

The second pack has no preparation, but the 
three cards corresponding to those of which the 
forcing pack is composed are so placed as to be 
ready to hand for palming. 

The performer advances with the forcing pack, 
meanwhile executing a false shuffle of the kind 
which leaves the pack as if cut, but otherwise 
undisturbed as to order. Holding the pack on the 
outstretched palm of his left hand, he invites some- 
one to cut it. This done, he takes back with the 
other hand the upper portion of the cut, and says, 
"You have cut where you pleased, have you notl 



74 LATEST MAGIC 

If you think I made cut at that particular point, 
you can cut again. You are satisfied? Then I 
will ask you to be good enough to take three cards 
from the top of this lower heap. Keep them care- 
fully. Don't let me see them: in fact don't show 
them just yet to anyone, but please remember 
exactly what they are." He replaces the top half 
of the cut, and passing to another spectator, at 
some little distance from the first, has the pack cut 
again, and a second three cards taken in like man- 
ner. This is repeated with a third person, just far 
enough away from the second as to preclude any 
possibility of the three drawers comparing their 
cards. 

"Now, ladies and gentlemen, you must all agree 
that I have not sought to influence the choice of 
these gentlemen" (or ladies, as the case may be) 
"in the slightest degree, and it must be equally 
clear to you that I cannot possibly know even one 
of the cards that have been chosen. To make sure 
that I do not get sight of them in any way, we will 
have them placed, with the remainder of the pack, 
in this envelope." He collects the cards accord- 
ingly, allowing each person who drew to replace 
his cards himself in the envelope, and requesting 
the last person to moisten the flap, and make all 
secure. 

Eeturning to his table, he places the closed 
envelope in full view. "I shall now want the 
assistance of some gentleman. Thank you, sir. 



DIVINATION DOUBLY DIFFICULT 75 

Will you kindly shuffle this other pack for me." 
(He runs the cards over fanwise, showing their 
faces, so as to prove that they are an ordinary 
mixed pack: then hands them to be shuffled, and 
while this is being done, palms the three secreted 
cards. "Shuffle them thoroughly, please, and then 
spread them a little, faces down, upon the table, 
and lay your handkerchief over them. 

"Now I am going, in the first place, to attempt 
a little thought-reading. I shall endeavour by 
that means to discover the three cards each person 
chose, and then, by means of the sense of touch, 
which I have cultivated to a rather unusual degree, 
to pick them out, without seeing them, from among 
the cards under the handkerchief. I shall only 
ask one indulgence. To leave a little margin for 
possible mistakes. I shall ask your permission to 
pick out four cards instead of three for each per- 
son, so as to give me one extra chance. Will the 
gentleman who drew first kindly look my way, and 
say to himself slowly, the names of the cards he 
drew. Thank you, Sir! I think I read them 
right." He inserts his hand under the handker- 
chief, and after a little pretended fumbling, brings 
out the three palmed cards, with one indifferent 
card in front of them. He does not show or look 
at them, but asks the second chooser to think hard 
of his three cards, afterwards taking four more 
from under the handkerchief. Having done the 
same in the case of the third drawer, he spreads 



76 LATEST MAGIC 

the twelve cards he has taken from under the hand- 
kerchief, and shows them fanwise. Addressing 
the first drawer, he says, "Your three cards are 
among these, I think, sir ? ' ' and the same question 
is then addressed to the other two choosers, the 
answer being of course in the affirmative. 

"Now, gentlemen, in order to prove that there 
is no deception, I will take away three cards at a 
time, one from each set of three. Pray observe 
that from beginning to end, I have not looked at 
the face of any card." He accordingly removes 
one of the forced, and two of the indifferent cards, 
making however some pretence of selection and 
throws them aside. "There are now only two 
cards belonging to each gentleman left. That is 
so, is it not % ' ' 

The question is addressed to each of the three 
drawers in turn, and answered accordingly, after 
which the same process is again twice repeated. 

"And now, gentlemen, we have three cards left, 
belonging to neither of you, which is just as it 
should be. It is a peculiarity of this experiment 
that if it comes out right it always brings good 
luck to those taking part in it, so you may all fairly 
expect to live happily ever afterwards, and I trust 
you will." 

If the performance is given before the family 
circle, or very intimate friends (who sometimes 
consider themseles privileged to be disagreeable), 
it is just possible that some ill-mannered person, 



A NEW LONG CARD PACK 77 

in the hope of embarrassing the conjurer, may ask 
at the close to be allowed to examine the envelope 
containing the drawn cards. Such an examina- 
tion, if permitted, would of course largely give 
away the trick. If the performer has any reason 
to fear such a contingency, he ma}^ guard against 
it by "switching" the envelope, during his return 
to the table with it, for a duplicate containing an 
ordinary mixed pack. In some part of this the 
three cards corresponding to those drawn should 
be placed together, as the obnoxious person, if him- 
self one of the drawers, will naturally expect so to 
find them. 

At a public performance such a precaution 
would be supererogatory. 

A NEW LONG CARD PACK AND A TEICK 
DEPENDENT ON ITS USE 

Some few months ago I was shown by a clever 
amateur, Mr. Victor Farrelly, a pack of cards pre- 
pared, after a method of his own, to replace in a 
more subtle form, the familiar ~biseaute pack. Mr. 
Farrelly 's plan is to round off, in a very minute 
degree, three of the corners of an ordinary pack. 
If a given card be turned round in a pack so 
treated, it is obvious that its unfiled corner will 
project, to a microscopic extent, beyond those 
above and below it, rendering the card instantly 
discoverable by touch. 



78 LATEST MAGIC 

Mr. Farrelly's idea is decidedly ingenious, but 
the uses of the oisecmte pack are rather limited, 
and the fact that the pack must be reversed before 
the card is replaced in it is a drawback. It struck 
me, on reflection, that the idea might be developed, 
in a slightly different direction, to greater advan- 
tage. 

My own plan is as follows : Two packs, exactly 
alike are used. As to one of these, I treat all four 
corners after the manner indicated by Mr. Far- 
relly, when any card of the second pack, inserted 
into the one so treated, naturally becomes in effect, 
a long card. There is in this case no need to 
reverse the pack, and as the minute projection is 
duplicated at each end of the diagonal, a less degree 
of rounding off is necessary. 

As a practical illustration of the possible uses 
of such a pack, I offer the trick which I am about to 
describe. The expert will recognise that, save for 
the use of the new pack, it is merely a combination 
of well-known methods, but as regards the mode 
of presentation it is original, and I think will be 
found worthy of a place in the repertoire of the 
card-conjurer. 

For the purpose of description we will call the 
pack with rounded corners the " short," and the 
other the "long" pack. Three known cards are 
borrowed from the long pack, which may then be 
put aside, as it plays no further part in the trick. 
These three cards are palmed, and after the short 



A NEW LONG CARD PACK 79 

pack has been shuffled by one of the company, are 
added to it, and forced upon three different spec- 
tators. We will suppose that the three selected 
cards are the queen of hearts, forced on a gentle- 
man; the king of clubs and the ten of diamonds; 
the two last mentioned forced on ladies. 

This done, each of the drawers is invited to 
replace his or her card in the pack, which is passed 
from the one to the other for that purpose, and 
before it is returned to you is once more shuffled. 
You then deliver a "yarn" to something like the 
following effect: 

"Please bear in mind, ladies and gentlemen, 
exactly what has been done. To begin with, you 
have seen that the pack was thoroughly well 
shuffled. Three cards were then freely chosen 
from it. They have been put back, not by me, but 
by the persons who drew them, and the pack has 
since been shuffled again. It is therefore 
obviously impossible that I should know either 
what cards have been chosen, or whereabouts they 
may now be in the pack. But I enjoy impossibili- 
ties. The more impossible a thing is, the more I 
want to do it. I will find out these cards or die! 
Don't be alarmed, I don't mean to die just yet; so 
I must do the other thing. It's easy enough, if 
you know how to do it. 

"In the first place I cut the pack into three por- 
tions. ' ' (You cut three times, nipping the ' i long ' ' 
corners between second finger and thumb, at each 



80 LATEST MAGIC 

of the drawn cards in succession, and placing the 
cards left at bottom on one or other of the three 
heaps; then solemnly rub your wand, without 
remark, with a silk handkerchief, and lay it across 
the tops of the three packets.) 

"Now, if the electric influence is strong enough, 
the three chosen cards will gradually sink down 
to the bottom of these three heaps. A nice easy 
way of finding them out, is it not ? It will take a 
minute or two for the charm to operate, so in the 
meantime I will try to find out the names of the 
cards for myself by thought-reading. You drew 
a card, I think, Sir? Will you kindly think of 
that card, as hard as you can, and meanwhile look 
straight at me % Thank you. Judging by physiog- 
nomy, I should say that you were rather a ladies' 
man. Don't blush, Sir. It's nothing to be 
ashamed of, is it, ladies'? But he did blush, didn't 
he % Now, being a ladies ' man, you will naturally 
have chosen one of the ladies of the pack, that is to 
say one of the queens, and your blush suggests that 
it was a red queen. Now there are only two red 
queens to choose from. The queen of hearts rep- 
resents Love, and the queen of diamonds Money. 
If I read your thoughts aright I feel safe in declar- 
ing that you chose the queen of hearts. That is 
right, I think % Quite simple, when you know how 
it's done. 

' ' And now, Madam, for your card. I can see at 
a glance that you have a liking for aristocratic 



A NEW LONG CARD PACK 81 

society, and you will therefore naturally have 
chosen a king. But which king? Think hard of 
your card, please. A picture of a dark-complex- 
ioned gentleman comes up before my mind's eye, 
and I feel that I can say with confidence that 
the card you chose was the king of clubs. Am I 
right % 

"And you, Madam. I have an idea that you 
have a taste for pretty things, particularly jew- 
ellery. Such being the case, you would naturally 
choose diamonds. Think of your card, please. 
Thank you. I see I was right in my guess. The 
card you chose was the ten of diamonds. 

"And now to verify my discoveries. If my 
wand has done its work, those same three cards ^ T ill 
now have percolated through the rest, and settled 
down at the bottom of these three heaps. Let us 
see whether they have done so. " (The three heaps 
are turned over.) "Yes, here we have them: the 
king of clubs, the queen of hearts, and the ten of 
diamonds. It is a curious thing for the cards to 
do, and I daresay you would like to know how it is 
done. As a matter of fact, it is done by synthetic 
readjustment of dissociated atoms. You don't 
know what that means, perhaps % Well, to say the 
truth,. I don't quite know myself, but that is the 
scientific explanation, so no doubt it is correct. ' ' 

The trick may very well end at this point, but 
if the reader possesses a card-box, or other appar- 
atus adapted for "vanishing" cards, he may bring 



82 LATEST MAGIC 

it to a still more striking conclusion. In this case 
he may continue as follows : 

"Now, I should like to show you a curious effect 
of sympathy. I take away these three cards and 
hand the rest of the pack to the gentleman who 
drew the queen of hearts. Kindly hold it up above 
your head where all can see it. The three drawn 
cards" (show them one by one) "I place in this 
box. Again I electrify my wand a little, and lay 
it across the box. Now I want each gentleman or 
lady to think of his or her card. Think of it 
kindly, and feel as if you would like to see it again. 
Think hard, please, because it is you, not I, that 
perform this experiment, and if you don't think 
hafd it will be a failure. I am pleased to see by 
the expression of your countenances that you are 
all thinking hard. Thank you very much. You 
may leave off; now. The deed is done. The three 
cards have left the box, and gone back to the pack. 
Please look it through, sir, and tell the company 
whether it is not so. ' ' 

The reader, being familiar with the wiles of con- 
jurers, will doubtless have guessed that the three 
cards supposed to have returned to the pack have 
in fact never left it, being those naturally belong- 
ing to it, corresponding with the three long cards. 
But to the outsider their supposed return will be, 
in the words of the lamented Lord Dundreary, 
"one of those things that no fellow can under- 
stand." 



THE MASCOT COIN BOX 83 

As regards the disappearance of the three cards, 
the performer is of course by no means restricted 
to the use of the card-box. If he is an expert in 
sleight-of-hand, he may with even better effect, 
"vanish" them one by one by means of the back 
palm, dropping them a moment later into the pro- 
fonde. 

THE MASCOT COIN BOX 

This is a little device on the same principle as 
the well-known flat card-box, but adapted for use 
with coins, and with an addition which largely 
increases its utility inasmuch as it will not only 
enable the performer to "change" or "vanish," 
but to get instant and secret possession of a coin 
placed in it. 

The box (see Fig. 14) is of ebonized wood, 
unpolished, and in size about three inches square. 
It consists of two parts (a and b), which are 
alike in size and appearance, so that either half 
may be regarded as "box" and either as "lid," at 
pleasure, according as the one or the other is made 
uppermost, no difference being perceptible be- 
tween them. In the centre of each half is a cir- 
cular well, not quite two inches in diameter. 

Used with the box is a thin disc of wood corre- 
sponding to that of which the box is made. This 
is of such diameter as to fall easily from the one 
well into the other, according to the way in which 
the box is turned, but on the other hand fits so 



84 



LATEST MAGIC 



closely within that its presence or absence is not 
perceptible to sight. If a coin be laid in the box 
upon the disc and the box is then closed and turned 
over, the disc settles down over the coin in the 
opposite half, either leaving the box apparently 




Fig. 14 



empty or exhibiting in place of the original coin a 
substitute with which the opposite side of the box 
has been previously loaded. 

Thus far, as the reader will doubtless have per- 
ceived, the effect produced (save that a coin instead 
of a card is dealt with) is precisely the same as in 



THE MASCOT COIN BOX 85 

the case of the card-box. But the " mascot" has 
a speciality of its own, in the fact that in that half 
of the box marked a (see Fig. 14) a horizontal 
slot is cut on the side opposite to the hinge, just 
long enough and wide enough to allow the passage 
of a halfcrown. The wood being dead black, this 
small opening is invisible save to close inspection, 
which the box is never called upon to undergo. 

When it is desired to gain secret possession of a 
coin lent by one of the company, the lender is 
invited to place it himself in the box, held open 
bookwise as in Fig. 14, the side b of the box having 
been previously loaded with a duplicate coin. 

The lender of the coin may place it in whichever 
side of the box he pleases, but the manner of clos- 
ing the box will vary accordingly. If he places it 
in the side a, the opposite (or loaded) side is treated 
as the lid and turned down over a. In this case, 
the coin being already in the slotted half, no turn- 
over of the box is necessary, the performer having 
merely to allow the coin to slip out into his hand. 
In the opposite case, viz., that of the coin being 
placed in b, a is treated as the lid, and the coin 
being in this case above the disc the box must be 
turned over before it can be extracted. If pre- 
ferred the performer can hold the box so that the 
coin will naturally be placed in h, but in this case 
the turn-over is unavoidable. 

When the box is again opened, the duplicate coin 
is revealed in place of the original, which is mean- 



86 LATEST MAGIC 

while dealt with as may be necessary for the pur- 
pose of the trick. After the borrowed coin has 
been extracted, the further fall of the disc closes 
the slot, and bars any possibility of the substitute 
coin escaping in the same way. 

The following will be found an easy way of 
working the exchange. 

"For the purpose of my next experiment," says 
the performer , "I shall have to ask the loan of a 
half crown; marked in such a way that you can 
be sure of knowing it again. I should like one, if 
possible, that has seen some service, for a coin in 
the course of circulation imbibes a certain amount 
of magnetic fluid from each person who handles it ; 
and this renders a well-worn coin more susceptible 
to magical influences than a new one." 

The reason alleged for asking the loan of an old 
coin is of course "spoof," but there is a reason; 
and it is twofold. In the first place it ensures your 
getting a coin tolerably like your own ; which you 
have chosen in accordance with that description, 
and which you have marked after some common- 
place fashion, say with a cross scratched upon one 
of its faces. Secondly, a well-worn coin, having 
lost the sharp edge which is caused by the milling 
in a new one, passes the more easily through the 
slot, which for obvious reasons is kept as narrow as 
possible. 

Performer, advancing toward the person offer- 
ing the coin, continues ; 



THE MASCOT COIN BOX 87 

"I don't want even to touch the coin myself till 
the very last moment, so I will ask you meanwhile 
to put it in this little box. I believe it was built for 
a watch-case, but as I don't happen to need one, I 
use it to hold my money, when I have any, or when 
I can get somebody to lend me some." 

The box is held open bookwise, as above men- 
tioned, and closed according to circumstances, in 
one or the other of the two ways described. 

"I will now ask some gentleman to take charge 
of the coin in the box. Who will do so 1 You will, 
Sir? Thank you. But stay! I think I heard 
somebody say (it was only said in a whisper but I 
heard it) 'I don't believe the half crown is in the 
box.' It is very sad to find people so suspicious, 
especially when I take such pains to prove that 
there is 'no deception.' But the gentleman was 
wrong, you see." (He opens box, and shows the 
substitute coin.) "Here it is. Take it out, sir, 
and keep it in your own hands till I ask you for 
it again." 

During the delivery of the patter the borrowed 
coin has been extracted, and the coin exhibited in 
the box and handed for safe-keeping is, of course, 
the substitute. The box, as being no longer needed, 
is laid without remark upon the table, and the 
trick proceeds, after whatever may have been its 
intended fashion. 



MISCELLANEOUS TRICKS 

MONEY-MAKING MADE EASY 

Requirements. Coin mat loaded with two 
double pennies, shell side undermost. Lighted 
candle and velvet mat (with pocket) on table. 

Presentation. Performer comes forward with 
coin mat hanging down in his right hand (mouth of 
loaded space upwards), and asks for the loan of a 
penny, marked in some conspicuous way. Receiv- 
ing it on the mat, he shows it, so placed, to the per- 
sons, seated on each side of the owner, in so doing 
making it obvious to them, without remark, that 
his hands are otherwise empty. Then returning to 
his table, with the mat and the coin on it still in 
his hand, he delivers patter to the following effect : 

"Now I am going to show you a nice easy way 
of making money. I was told when I was a small 
boy, 'Take care of the pence, and the pounds will 
take care of themselves. ' I believe they do. The 
pounds take such good care of themselves that very 
few of them seem to come my way. But you can 
make a bit even with pennies, if you know how to 
set about it. All you need is a really good penny 
to start with. It doesn't matter how you get the 
penny. You may beg, borrow, or steal it. Per- 



MONEY-MAKING MADE EASY 89 

sonally, I prefer to borrow it. If you try the other 
two ways you get yourself disliked, but you can 
always get people to lend you things, if you ask 
prettily; and I've always been celebrated for my 
nice borrowing manner. You must all have no- 
ticed that the gentleman lent me a penny without 
the slightest hesitation. I daresay if I had asked 
him, he would have made it two-pence, or even six- 
pence, if he had as much about him. In this case, 
however, one penny is enough for my purpose; 
and here it is with the owner's own mark upon it. 
Observe that it is just a plain ordinary penny, and 
you can see for yourselves that it is the only one 
I have — in my hands, I mean. I am always truth- 
ful. As a matter of fact, I believe I have another 
in my left trouser-pocket, but I promise you that 
I won't use it." 

Pass mat, with coin on it, from one hand to the 
other, showing the hands otherwise empty, and 
leaving the mat finally in the right hand : then let 
the marked coin slide off it into left hand, the 
concealed coins passing with it. Put down the 
mat, and show all three coins together (the marked 
coin in front) held between fore-finger and thumb, 
broadside toward the spectators. Thus held, they 
are, even at a few feet distant, undistinguishable 
from a single coin. 

"Now I am going to make money. Not much, 
perhaps, in fact only a penny at a time. I shall 
start by making this one penny into two. Cent 



90 LATEST MAGIC 

per cent is not bad, is it % Observe, I use no vio- 
lence. It's all done by kindness. I just warm the 
coin a little over this candle-flame. That softens 
the metal and I am able to squeeze another penny 
out of this one, so!" 

Show as two accordingly, by sliding off: the 
hindermost coin in its shell, exhibiting it on both 
sides, and laying it on the table. 

"You have all heard of turning an honest penny. 
Well, this is one way of doing it. It is said, too, 
that one good turn deserves another, so we'll try 
again. I warm the first penny a little more, and 
again I pull another out of it"' (Draw second 
double coin from behind the original penny.) 
"Now we have three, two in my hands" (showing 
one in each hand) "and one on the table. 

"I think I heard somebody say that I couldn't 
make any more? I don't like to do it, because the 
process takes a good deal out of the original penny, 
and I might spoil it. On the other hand, I don't 
like to decline a challenge, so here goes! I warm 
these two again, and then, with a little extra pres- 
sure, because it naturally becomes more difficult 
each time, I get yet another penny, as you see. 
So now, in all, we have four." (Show those in 
hand as three, by drawing solid coin out of shell, 
then, picking up double coin from mat, show as four 
accordingly.) "Did I hear a lady say 'Just one 
more'? Well, then, one more." (Develop the 
double coin just picked up, and show as five.) 



MONEY-MAKING MADE EASY 91 

"But here I must really draw the line. If I kept 
on like this, there would be none of the original 
penny left. It is already getting weaker and 
weaker. Besides, there wouldn't be time for any- 
thing else, and I have several still more wonderful 
things to show you. 

"And now to put these extra pennies back again 
into the original coin. At present it is only one- 
fifth its proper weight and if the owner tried to 
pass it in this condition there would be trouble. 
I should explain, by the way, that these others are 
not really solid coins: though they look like it. 
They are what the spiritualists call astral coins, 
if you know what that means: I don't quite know 
myself; so I won't attempt to explain, but I believe 
in the Police Courts they are known as 'duffers.' " 

Lay all five coins on the velvet mat, each of the 
shells slightly overlapping the solid coin to which 
it belongs. 

"Here we have one, two, three, four, five. I 
pick up two of them." (Draw shell over solid in 
act of picking up.) "I give them a gentle squeeze 
and they become one only." (Show as one, and 
replace on mat behind the mouth of pocket.) 
"Now I treat two more in the same way." 
(Repeat accordingly, replacing these also, as one, 
on mat.) "We have now only three left. Let me 
see, which is the original? Ah ! here it is, with the 
owner's mark upon it." (Pick it up and show in 
left hand.) "Now I rub one of these others into 



92 LATEST MAGIC 

it." (Make the movement of picking up one of 
the double coins, and of rubbing it into the coin in 
left hand, but in reality "vanish" it, in the sup- 
posed act of picking up, into the pocket of mat.) 
"And now I pass this other one into it in the 
same way, and we have only the original penny left. 
It is like the ten little niggers, isn't it, only that 
they never came back. Here is your penny, Sir. 
Please observe that it still has your own mark 
upon it, which is proof positive that there has 
been 'no deception.' " 

N. B. If the performer is a novice, he may 
simplify the trick by loading the coin mat with 
one double and one ordinary coin only, or two 
ordinary coins, limiting the successive productions 
accordingly. 

THE MISSING LINK 

At an early period of my magical career, I 
devised a trick to which I gave the name of Con- 
catenation Extraordinary, and which will be found 
described in Later Magic, page 94. In effect it 
consisted of the magical welding of a number of 
loose iron links into a continuous chain. It was 
performed by the aid of a Black Art table, a bot- 
tomless tumbler, and a silk thread. "Though I 
say it that shouldn't," it was an ingenious trick, 
and I was very proud of it. Unfortunately, some 
good natured friend (I rather think it was 



THE MISSING LINK 93 

Mr. David Devant) pointed out to me that about 
ninety-live per cent of my ingenuity was wasted, 
inasmuch as the same effect, so far as the spectator 
was concerned, could be produced by infinitely 
simpler means, viz. : — by using a glass with double 
mirror partition, when all the other paraphernalia 
became unnecessary. You had only to load the 
hinder compartment with the complete chain, and 
after a due amount of "talkee-talkee," drop the 
loose links into the forward one, turn the glass 
round, and the deed was done. 

The trick, as a trick, was just as good in its new 
shape as before, but being at that time (compara- 
tively) young and foolish, its extreme simplicity 
spoilt it for me, and I lost all interest in it. Not 
long since, however, I was reminded of it by com- 
ing across the chain and links which had figured in 
my performance of the trick, and it struck me that, 
in a slightly modified form, it may still be worth 
the attention of the drawing-room conjurer. 

The requirements for the trick in this, its latest 
form, are as follows: 

First, the mirror glass ; and as to this I may note 
in passing that the " mirror" is best made of tin- 
plate, not too highly polished, in place of the look- 
ing-glass plate which was, until a quite recent 
period, generally employed for the purpose. 

Secondly, a length of small iron chain, made up 
of twenty-six links, connected in the centre by a 
twenty-seventh link of brass. 



94 LATEST MAGIC 

Thirdly, two shorter lengths of similar chain, 
consisting of thirteen links each, and a loose brass 
link, corresponding to the one in the centre of the 
longer chain. The complete chain is to be placed 
at the ontset in the hinder compartment of the 
mirror glass, which should be of such a size that 
the chain nearly fills it. 

Lastly will be needed a bottle containing Eau de 
Cologne, of which a few drops have been poured 
on the chain in the glass. 

The patter may run to something like the fol- 
lowing effect. 

"You are doubtless aware, ladies and gentle- 
men, that electricity is now largely employed in the 
welding of metals. Of course to produce such a 
result on a large scale, such as welding guns, enor- 
mous strength of current is required; amounting 
in fact to millions of amperes, or volts, or ohms, or 
watts. I blush to confess I don't know which is 
which, but it's of no consequence. If I had ever 
so many amperes, or the rest of it, I shouldn't know 
what to do with them. I am only able to manu- 
facture my electricity on a very small scale, but 
with the aid of a little magic, I get very good 
results. 

"You are also no doubt aware that when certain 
metals, particularly copper and zinc, are brought 
into close connection, an electrical current is set 
up between them. The same thing applies, in a 



THE MISSING LINK 95 

less degree, to iron and brass, as I hope to be able 
to show you. 

"I have here two short lengths of iron chain. 
Will somebody be kind enough to count the links? 
You will find, I think, that there are exactly 
thirteen in each. Please notice this, because, in 
some mysterious way, it has something to do with 
the success of my experiment. You know thirteen 
is an unlucky number, and the chains themselves 
don't like to consist of that number of links, and 
if they can alter it, they try to do so. I am going 
to give them the opportunity, with a little electrical 
assistance. Thirteen, as I have said, is an unlucky 
number, and twice thirteen makes twenty-six, 
which is not much better, but if you add one more, 
you get twenty-seven, which is a very lucky num- 
ber indeed. Everybody knows that three is a 
lucky number. Three times three are nine, which 
of course must be luckier still, and three times nine 
are twenty-seven, which is naturally best of all. 

"Now I am going to give these two chains an 
opportunity to convert themselves into that lucky 
number, by taking in this extra link, which as you 
perceive is brass, an opposition metal. Observe, 
I drop one of the chains into this glass. See that 
I do so fairly. Then I drop in the single link, 
and lastly, the other piece of chain. And now, in 
order to set up an electrical reaction, I add just a 
few drops from this bottle of Eau de Cologne. As 
a matter of fact, a little salt and water would have 



96 LATEST MAGIC 

the same effect, but I use Eau de Cologne because 
it smells nicer. And now I must ask the loan of 
some lady's handkerchief, to cover the glass, and 
concentrate the electric current." 

Holding the handkerchief in right hand, pick 
up the glass with left hand, and raise it a few 
inches from the table. In lowering it, cover it with 
the handkerchief, and at the same time give it the 
necessary half-turn. Take out your watch, and 
make believe to time the operation, remarking, "I 
find it needs a full half -minute, to allow the charm 
to work. Time! Let us see how we have suc- 
ceeded. ' ' 

Take off the handkerchief, and draw the chain 
slowly out of the glass. "Yes. All is well. I 
should say welded, and I trust you will say, 'Well 
done.' The chain is complete, and now consists of 
twenty-seven links, the lucky number. Perhaps 
some gentleman will verify the fact. 

"I must tell you frankly that I don't guarantee 
the correctness of my explanation. I can't say 
exactly how much the electricity has to do with it. 
I only know that if you go to work the right way, 
which means, do as I do, you get the result, and 
there j^ou are. This experiment always provokes 
a lot of discussion. The other evening one gentle- 
man said it was done this way. A lady said it was 
that way, and a sharp boy (the younger they are 
the more they know) was quite sure it was done 
another way altogether. But they were all wrong. 



THE MISSING LINK 97 

It is done just the way I have shown you, and if 
you do as I do, and say as I say, you will no doubt 
produce the same result. 1 If you don't, well, you 
will be no use as a conjurer, and you had better 
go into some other business." 

Some less instructed reader may possibly 
enquire, "But why the Eau de Cologne? What 
does that do % " Precisely nothing, and therein lies 
its virtue. As indicated in the section on ' ■ patter " 
(post) it often happens that some little bit of 
spoof, supererogatory in reality so far as the spec- 
tator is concerned, is accepted as covering the real 
key to the puzzle. This is a case in point. Taking 
it for granted that the Eau de Cologne would not 
be used without some reason, the spectator sets to 
work to discover that reason, and so gets farther 

from the real solution. 

il 

CULTURE EXTRAORDINARY 

The root-idea of this item must be credited to 
Signor Antonio Molini, the inventor of the very 
effective stage trick known as Le Souper du 
Diable. The principle on which that trick is 
worked is so subtle, and withal so simple, that it is 
surprising that it has not long since been applied 
to the production of less bulky objects than the 
tablecloth, eatables and drinkables which figure in 

i This last bit of patter is a plagiarism from somebody or other, I 
rather think the late Dr. Lynn. 



98 



LATEST MAGIC 



the Satanic supper. The following is an applica- 
tion of the Signor Molini's idea on a scale better 
adapted to the drawing room. 

Requisites. 

(1) Three zinc or zinc-lined tubes, as a, h, c, in 
Fig. 15, ranging in height from about three inches 




Fig. 15 




upwards, and graduated in size so as to fit easily 
one within the other. 

(2) Three balls, one red and two white, of such 
diameter as to pass easily through the narrowest 
tube. Two smaller balls, one red and one white, 
about half an inch in diameter. 

(3) A box of matches. 



CULTURE EXTRAORDINARY 



99 



Each of the two smaller tubes (c and d in dia- 
gram) to be loaded with one of the larger white 
balls, suspended from the upper edge of the tube 
by a wire hook, shaped as a in Fig. 16, connected 
with the ball by a loop of fine silk or cotton thread. 
The red ball is vested, and the two little balls may 



cT 



A 

}W0K. 



Fig. 16 



rest in a shallow tray or other appropriate recep- 
tacle on the table, deep enough as to conceal them 
from the view of the spectators. 

Introductory Patter. "You have no idea, ladies 
and gentlemen, what a lot of hints I get from dif- 
ferent people for the improvement of my enter- 
tainment. If I were to adopt them all, I have no 



100 LATEST MAGIC 

doubt it would be very fine indeed. The worst of 
it is that it would take a year or two to try them, 
so for the present I am obliged to leave things as 
they are. 

"You will observe that I have here three tubes" 
(showing No. 1 and passing wand through it to 
prove it is empty), "quite ordinary tubes, with a 
hole at each end, and nothing at all between. I 
don't suppose you would notice anything to object 
to about them, but some people are so very par- 
ticular. A gentleman who said he had an artistic 
eye (I don't know which eye it was) said to me, 
'Look here, Professor, that trick of yours would be 
ever so much better if you had all those tubes the 
same size. That lot looks as if you had picked 
them up at a jumble sale. n I explained to him, 
kindly but firmly, that there was a special reason 
for having the three tubes of different, sizes; 
namely, that by so doing it was made possible" 
(suiting the action to the word) "to pass this one 
(No. 1) over this other (No. 2) ; and this again 
over the smallest one, thereby saving much space 
in packing. He said, 'Never mind, you take my 
tip and make 'em all the same size.' I dare say 
he was right, but I haven't had time to do it yet." 

During this little harangue, which appears to be 
mere "spoof," you have practically worked the 
trick. Suiting the action to the word, you have 
passed the largest tube No. 1 over No. 2 and lifted 

i Rummage. 



CULTURE EXTRAORDINARY 101 

it off again. In its downward movement the tube 
passes over the little hook on No. 2 ; but in lifting 
it off: again its upper edge comes within the outer 
arm of the hook, and carries this off with the ball 
attached to it, leaving tube No. 2 empty. The lat- 
ter, shown empty accordingly, is passed over No. 
3 and carries off its load in the same way. 

You have thus proved (!) in the most convincing 
way that all three tubes are empty, though as 
a matter of fact No. 3 is the only one in that con- 
dition, Nos. 1 and 2 each containing a suspended 
ball. 

The patter from this point may vary according 
to the fancy of the performer. If he has the knack 
of producing the appropriate combination of fact 
and fiction, it is preferable that he should do so for 
himself. As I have elsewhere remarked, bor- 
rowed patter rarely comes so " trippingly on the 
tongue" as that of which the performer can say 
with, let us hope, undue depreciation of his merits, 
"a poor thing, but mine own." 

The fable with which I should myself introduce 
the trick would run somewhat as follows : 

"You have all heard, ladies and gentlemen, of 
intensive culture, gooseberries grown while you 
wait, and that sort of thing. It is done by enclos- 
ing the seed, or the young plant, in a confined space 
and keeping it warm and comfy. It has always 
seemed to me that there is a good deal of magic 
about the process, and I thought I would like to 



102 LATEST MAGIC 

try it myself, but it would be no good my trying 
to grow vegetables. I shouldn't have room to 
grow more than one radish, or one spring onion 
at a time, which would hardly be worth while. I 
finally decided to grow a few billiard balls, for use 
in my entertainment, and I'll show you how it's 
done. 

"You must please imagine that these three tubes 
are three hothouses on the new system." (Picks 
up and exhibits one of the little white balls.) "Of 
course everything has to be raised from seed in the 
first instance, but it would take too long to show 
you the whole process from the beginning, so we 
will start with this little ball, grown from seed last 
night. In its present condition it is too small to 
be of any use, but by means of my intensive cul- 
ture we can soon make it grow larger. I will drop 
it into No. 1 forcing house. ' ' 

Performer shows little ball in right hand and 
makes believe to transfer it to the left, in reality 
rolling it, as in the well-known "Cups and Balls" 
trick, between the roots of the second and third 
fingers. The left hand, held above tube No. 1, 
makes the movement of crumbling an imaginary 
ball into it. "Now we will plant another in the 
same way." 

You pick up apparently another little white ball, 
but in reality the same ; which has remained in the 
right hand. Now, however, it will be well to vary 
the sleight used, so you show the ball between the 



CULTURE EXTRAORDINARY 103 

second finger and thumb of the left hand, and 
apparently take it back by means of the pincette 
or tourniquet; then professedly dropping it into 
the second tube. 

"And now, to complete the set, we shall have to 
grow a red ball. Here is a seedling of that col- 
our." You pick up the little red ball, and make 
believe to pass it after the same fashion into the 
third tube. 

"And now to supply the heat. We do not need 
much, the space being so confined. I find that even 
the flame of a match is sufficient." 

You strike a match and move the flame round 
and round within the top of the larger tube till the 
thread catches fire and releases the ball. Should 
this be heard to drop, you account for it by remark- 
ing "I dare say you noticed a little explosion. 
That is caused by the sudden radio-activity of the 
component atoms re-arranging themselves in the 
expanded form." You raise the tube and show 
the ball: then go through the same process with 
the second tube. Under cover of raising this tube 
to show the ball, you get the large red ball from the 
vest into the left hand and palm it. 

"Perhaps you would like to watch the progress 
a little more closely. ' ' You pick up the third tube 
and place it upright on the palm of the left hand, 
in so doing introducing the palmed ball from 
below, and advance with it to the company. 

"The red balls are especially sensitive to heat, 



104 LATEST MAGIC 

Even the warmth of the breath is generally enough 
for these. Anyhow, we will try." You breathe 
into the tube, and lifting it show the ball, then 
ottering both tube and ball for inspection. 

It will hardly be necessary to point out to the 
acute reader that the alteration of procedure in 
the case of the last tube is rendered necessary ; first, 
by the fact that the tube up to that point contains 
no ball, and secondly in order to avoid the difficulty 
of striking a match with the right hand only, the 
left being otherwise occupied. 

The trick may appropriately be followed by the 
exhibition of a few of the usual ball sleights. If 
it is worked on a "black art" table it may be 
brought to an effective close by the ' ' dematerialisa- 
tion," in succession, of the three balls. 

THE BOUNDING BEANS 

This is another application of the principle 
introduced by Signor Molini and utilised in the 
trick last described. 

The requisites for the trick are as follows : 

(1) Mirror glass; at the outset, empty. 

(2) Two tubes of cardboard, sheet brass, or zinc, 
as A and B in Fig. 17. The height and width of 
A are about 3% and 2y 2 inches respectively. B is 
a little taller, but a trifle less in diameter. 

(3) A third tube, C, with its lower edge turned 
inward an eighth of an inch all around. This tube 



THE BOUNDING BEANS 



105 



is a little shorter than A, and in diameter a trifle 
smaller than B, which must pass easily over it. 
Attached to either side of its upper edge, outside, 
are soldered two little wire hooks, the points on the 
outside directed downwards. 

(4) A coil of paper ribbon, of such size as to fit 
closely into the lower end of C, and forming, when 




Fig. 17 



so placed,* a temporary bottom to it. The inner 
end of the coil must be drawn up an inch or so, 
so as to form a little cone in the centre. 

(5) A similar coil unwound into a loose mass 
of paper ribbon. 

(6) About three-quarters of a pint of haricot 
beans. Of these a sufficient number must be 
poured into C (around the little cone), to fill it. 



106 LATEST MAGIC 

The remainder are to be brought forward on some 
sort of tray. 1 r 

C loaded as last described, is to be placed 
within B. 

The trick may be introduced as follows : 

"Most of you, I dare say, have seen the little 
natural curiosity known as the Jumping Bean. 
To all appearance these are just like other beans; 
but if you spread a dozen or so of them on the 
table and watch them carefully, you presently see 
one or more of them turn over, or even make a little 
jump. A young and lively bean will sometimes 
hop as far as half an inch. 

"Scientific gentlemen tell us that their agility is 
caused by a little insect inside the bean. When 
he wags his tail, or scratches himself with his hind 
leg, it causes the bean to turn over, or to make a 
hop. That seems to me rather a lame explanation 
because there is no hole in the bean that the insect 
could possibly have got in at. I believe myself, 
that they are in truth magic beans, and I have been 
trying to train some beans of my ow T n to do the 
same thing on a larger scale, and in such a. way 
that you can all see them do it. 

"Here are my beans." (Show those on tray.) 
"Examine them as much as you like. The more 
you examine them, the more you won't find any- 

i The little dishes of paper pulp sold for pienic purposes will be found 
to answer this and similar purposes excellently and ha\e the further 
advantage of being exceptionally portable. 



THE BOUNDING BEANS 107 

thing particular about them. You won't notice 
any difference between them and any other beans, 
but as a matter of fact they are a good deal more 
energetic than beans of the ordinary kind, and 
when they get to know and love you, they will do 
all sorts of remarkable things. 

"I will pour a few of them into this glass." 
(The front compartment of the mirror glass is 
filled to about two-thirds of its height.) "To pre- 
vent their getting out again without your knowing 
it I will press them down with a handful of these 
pretty paper shavings." 

This is also done, the quantity of paper being so 
regulated, in accordance with previous experi- 
ment, that when pressed down it shall come half 
an inch or so below the brim of the glass. 

"To make matters still more secure I will ask 
the loan of a lady's handkerchief to cover the glass 
with." 

The handkerchief is taken in the right hand, the 
left meanwhile raising the glass a little way to 
meet it. In covering and lowering it again to the 
table the needful half -turn is made. 

"I will not touch the glass again until the experi- 
ment is finished. Meanwhile I want to call your 
attention to these two tubes. You will observe 
that one of them is slightly larger than the other. 
A gentleman told me the other evening that I was 
wrong in saying so. He maintained that the one 
was smaller than the other. I didn't argue with 



108 LATEST MAGIC 

him. I never do with that sort of man. It is just 
a question of the point of view. Anyhow, I had 
the one made larger, or the other one smaller, 
whichever way it is, so that the one can go com- 
fortably over the other, like this." 

A, first carelessly moved about so as to show 
clearly that it is empty, is brought down over B 
and lifted off again, carrying off within it C and 
its load; after which B is in turn shown to be 
empty. 

"Now I am going to order the beans to jump out 
of the glass and into one or other of these empty 
tubes, at your own choice. Bight? or left? 
Which shall it be?" 

Performer asks the question standing behind his 
table, and by means of the familiar equivoque 
("my" or "your" left or right) interprets the 
answer to mean A. 

"And now I have only to pronounce the proper 
magic spell. The trouble is to remember the right 
one. They are rather confusing, and if you hap- 
pen to pronounce the wrong one, or even pronounce 
the right one the wrong way, the consequences may 
be serious. But I think I know this one pretty 
well. ' Peripatetico-paticocorum. ' I fancy I 
have got it right. I don't know quite what it 
means myself, and nobody seems to be able to tell 
me. A Japanese gentleman told me he thought it 
was Spanish, but a Spaniard said he felt sure it 
was Welsh. Somebody else suggested that I 



THE BOUNDING BEANS 109 

should /ask a pleeceman. ' I did ask a policeman, 
and he said, 'Go to — ' somewhere I won't mention, 
but I don't think he meant it as a translation. My 
own idea is that it is a bit of Esperanto. Anyhow, 
it has the desired effect ; for you see the beans have 
left the glass" (uncovering it and showing it 
empty), "and they have jumped into this tube, 
which is what I wanted them to do. ' ' 

The beans are poured from the tube into the 
vacant portion, now to the front, of the mirror 
glass, with due care that the coil at bottom shall not 
be seen. 

"But there's something wrong here. I musit 
have made some little mistake in the pronunciation 
of the magic spell, for the paper seems to have dis- 
appeared as well as the beans. There is certainly 
no room for it in the tube. Here it is, though, or 
some of it." 

The paper is unwound, and when it comes to 
an end the wand is passed through A and C (now 
bottomless) together, again proving (?) that the 
former which is always shown to the spectators 
could not possibly have contained the beans 
in any natural way. A moment or two later the 
inner tube can easily be got rid of behind the mass 
of paper ribbon. 



110 LATEST MAGIC 

LOST AND FOUND 

This trick may be worked either upon a black 
art table or black art mat. We will assume that 
the latter is used. 

The requisites for this trick will in such case 
be as follows : 

1. The mat. This may be a small circular one, 
a few inches in circumference without pocket. 

2. A handkerchief, fourteen or fifteen inches 
square, of some gaudy pattern, carefully folded 
and placed in a square Japanese handkerchief box. 1 

3. A circular velvet patch as described ante, in 
the chapter dealing with novel applications of the 
Black Art principle. 

4. A half-crown placed in a pochette, or other- 
wise so as to be readily get-at-able. 

Presentation. Performer opens the box and 
takes out the handkerchief, which he carefully 
unfolds, handling it as if it were something of 
extraordinary value. 

"I have here, ladies, a curio of an exceptionally 
curious kind. This is said to be the identical 
handkerchief which Othello gave to Desdemona, 
and which afterwards caused so much unpleasant- 
ness. No doubt you all know your Shakespeare, 
and will remember that Othello tells his wife, 
'There's magic in the web of it.' And there is 

i The handkerchief should be readily recognizable as a cheap and 
commonplace one. 



LOST AND FOUND 111 

magic in it still. Not so much as there was, I dare 
say, but still it retains a good many magical quali- 
ties. Among them is a curious talent for recover- 
ing lost property. For instance, I once had a dog. 
His name was Socrates, but he was generally called 
'Socks.' In fact, he preferred it. He was a val- 
uable dog, because he combined so many different 
breeds. He was partly pug, and partly grey- 
hound, and partly dachshund, and partly chow, 
and partly bull-dog and partly terrier, and partly 
of two or three other breeds that I can't for the 
moment remember. One day Socks went out to see 
a friend, and didn't come back again. I sat up all 
night for him with a stick, but he didn't come home 
till morning. In fact, he didn't come home even 
then. I thought I had lost him for good, and I 
was quite distressed about it. 

"Just when I was beginning to get over the loss 
I had a further shock. My precious Desdemona 
handkerchief was missing. But the very next day 
I heard a barking outside, and there was my dog 
with the handkerchief tied round his neck and 
three other dogs with him. The handkerchief had 
recovered them all. 

"You don't believe that little story. I thought 
you wouldn't. People never will believe anything 
a little bit out of the way. It is just the same with 
fish stories. I know a man who, when he was a 
boy, fishing in a pond with a maggot on a bent pin, 
caught a four-pound salmon. He didn't claim 



112 LATEST MAGIC 

any credit for doing it. He says himself it was 
just an accident, and might have happened to any- 
body. But he never can get anyone to believe him, 
and it has spoilt his character. He was naturally 
a truthful man, but being always disbelieved has 
made him reckless, and now, whenever he tells the 
story he sticks another half-pound on to the sal- 
mon. I believe it is a fifteen pounder now. 1 

"With regard to the handkerchief, however, I 
can easily prove to you that what I have stated is 
correct. I can't prove it quite in the same way, 
because even if any lady or gentleman present 
had lost a dog, it would take the handkerchief a 
day or two to find it, and you would get tired of 
waiting. So I must show you the virtues of the 
handkerchief in a simpler way. 

"Will some gentleman oblige me with the loan 
of a half-crown, marked so that he can be sure of 
knowing it again % ' ' 

On receiving the coin the performer returns to 
his table, holding it on high so that it can be seen 
that there is no substitution, and lays it on the 
black art mat. 

"Presently I propose to lose this coin, and get 

i This story, as also a few other "yarns" with which I have endeav- 
oured to brighten my otherwise serious pages, may be suppressed if it 
is thought desirable to shorten the patter. I ought perhaps to apologise 
for introducing such irrelevant fiction, but I am encouraged in misdo- 
ing by the example of the lamented Artemus Ward, who said that the 
best things in his lecture were generally the things that had nothing 
to do with it. 



LOST AND FOUND 113 

the handkerchief to find it, but first you would like, 
no doubt, to have a look at the handkerchief itself. 
Notice the richness of the pattern. It is said to 
be after a design in the Alhambra. I don't mean 
the Alhambra you gentlemen go to, but the real 
Moorish one in Spain. 

Leaving the handkerchief for the time being in 
the possession of a spectator he returns to the 
table, meanwhile palming the velvet patch, and the 
substituted half-crown, and ostensibly picks up 
the original, in reality rendering it invisible by 
laying the patch over it, and showing the substitute 
in its place, after the manner described at p. 19. 
He then advances to the company with the substi- 
tute coin and offers it to one or other of the spec- 
tators, remarking, "Take it, please, and pass it to 
one or other of your neighbours so that I shan't 
know where it is." 

Under pretence of offering the coin, he passes 
it from the one hand to the other, and vanishes it 
by, say, the tourniquet, so that the person holding 
out a hand to receive it gets nothing, and says so. 

"What do you say, Sir? You have not got it? 
But surely, I have just handed it to you. You are 
not joking? Then it must have fallen on the floor. 
Please look around you a bit." (Pretends to do 
so himself.) "Not there? Well, this is extra- 
ordinary." (To the lender of the coin.) "I am 
very sorry, Sir. Your money is lost in a way I 
did not anticipate. But after all, when I come to 



114 LATEST MAGIC 

think of it, it's of no consequence. The handker- 
chief will find it wherever it is, even if it has to 
follow it into somebody's pocket. By the way, 
where is the handkerchief 1 ' ' He takes it from the 
person with whom it was left, and holding it by 
two of its corners, and showing both hands other- 
wise empty, lowers it down carefully over the 
black patch on table. 

"And now to work the spell. 'Bismillah! 
Bechesm! Salaam Aleikoum!' You must excuse 
my speaking Arabic, but that is the only language 
the handkerchief understands. I see that the gen- 
tleman who lent me the half-crown is looking a 
little bit anxious. Cheer up, Sir, the handkerchief 
has never failed me yet. But we must give it time. 
Say, half a minute." (Looks at watch.) "This 
is curious. Half a minute gone. One minute, 
and nothing has happened. The handkerchief has 
made no move. Something must have gone wrong. 
But stay ! If the handkerchief has not gone to the 
coin, perhaps the coin has gone to the handker- 
chief. Let us see!" 

He lifts the handkerchief by the centre, picking 
up the black patch with it, and thereby disclosing 
the coin, which is handed back on the mat to the 
owner. Then carefully folding up the handker- 
chief, performer replaces it in its box, and in so 
doing regains possession of the velvet patch, to be 
got rid of at a convenient opportunity. 



LOST AND FOUND 115 

THE EIDDLE OF THE PYRAMIDS 

This, in good hands, will be found a very effec- 
tive trick. I have the less hesitation in saying so, 
because the assertion is only to a very limited 
extent self-praise. The idea of the effect to be pro- 
duced was my own, as also to a certain extent the 
method of producing it. I had even got so far as 
to devise, in anticipation, suitable patter. When, 
however, I proceeded to put my ideas into practice 
I found myself pulled up by unexpected obstacles. 

The object to be attained, as will be seen by the 
sequel, was the instantaneous re-adjustment of the 
sundered parts of a small pyramid, and this I pro- 
posed to do by means of the pull of a thread, fine 
enough to be practically invisible. Now, to make 
segments of a pyramid not only draw together, 
but sit squarely one upon another, it is necessary 
to have forces operating simultaneously in two dif- 
ferent directions, and the need for this caused diffi- 
culties which I found myself unable to cope with. 
Indeed, I had practically decided to content myself 
by producing a somewhat similar effect in a sim- 
pler way, as exemplified in the trick which I have 
called the Miracle of Mumbo Jumbo, which next 
follows. 

As luck would have it, however, I mentioned my 
difficulties to my good friend, Mr. Holt Schooling, 
a gentleman whom I have more than once had 
occasion to refer to in my writings in connection 



116 LATEST MAGIC 

with some neat device. Mr. Schooling declared 
that the original idea was too good to be abandoned, 
and offered to try his hand at bringing it to a suc- 
cessful issue. I must frankly confess that I had 
no great hope of his success ; but Mr. Schooling is 
a man of many talents. Apart from eminence in 
his own profession (that of actuary and statis- 
tician) he is not only an expert amateur conjurer, 




Fig. 18 



but an exceptionally skilful mechanic, and he 
possesses withal an unlimited capacity for taking 
pains. He used these qualities to such good pur- 
pose that I am enabled to include this striking 
effect among the contents of the present volume. 

The principal item of apparatus is naturally the 
pyramid itself, which is of blackened wood as 
illustrated in Fig. 18. For the sake of lightness it 



THE RIDDLE OF THE PYRAMIDS 117 

is of necessity a small affair, being four inches in 
height, about six across the base, and two across 
the top. It is divided into five horizontal slabs or 
segments, as indicated by the dotted lines. Mid- 
way on each side of each slab, at about half an inch 
distance from the upper edge, a minute hole is 
bored, parallel to the outer slope of the segment; 
exactness in this particular being an essential con- 
dition of success. Of the four holes in each slab, 
two only are actually used in the trick, the other 
two being added partly for the sake of uniformity, 
and partly to disguise the significance of the other 
pair. Each slab, save those at. the top and bottom, 
is also perforated perpendicularly by three or four 
holes of considerable diameter, the object of these 
being merely to lessen the weight of the slab. 

In preparing the pyramid for use in the trick, a 
piece of plaited silk fishing-line, stained black, and 
in length five to six feet, is passed by the aid of a 
needle upwards through the small hole in one side 
of the largest slab ; then in the same way through 
the corresponding hole in the next, and so on till it 
comes out through the uppermost. Thence it is 
again passed downward through the next adjoin- 
ing hole in each slab till it comes out at the bot- 
tom, when the ends are drawn level and tied in a 
knot. 

The use of plaited silk fishing line for such pur- 
poses is one of Mr. Schooling's specialties, and is a 
"tip" to make a note of. Line of this kind is in 



118 



LATEST MAGIC 






proportion to its thickness much stronger than 
ordinary silk thread, and, not being liable to 
untwist, its surface remains permanently hard and 
smooth, a great desideratum where it is important 
to minimise friction. Further, it does not "kink" 
as a twisted thread is liable to do. 

Two other items of apparatus are used, viz. : 
(1) An electric torch in the shape of a wand, the 
light appearing at the end. 








Fig. 19 



Fig. 20 



(2) A little knife or cutter specially designed by 
Mr. Schooling for use in this trick. This consists 
of a half -inch length of a safety-razor blade, set 
in a handle consisting of a piece of tin one inch 
square, folded in half, and then bent back to a right 
angle on each side, the blade projecting along the 
line of juncture as shown in Fig. 19. In use the 
cutter is held by what may be called its backbone 
between the first joints of the first and second 
fingers of the extended hand, as shown in Fig. 20. 
This cutter must be placed ready to hand upon the 



THE RIDDLE OF THE PYRAMIDS 119 

table. It is so minute that there is no fear of its 
attracting attention. 1 

In presenting the trick the pyramid, with its sec- 
tions duly threaded and placed one upon another, 
is brought in on a wooden board similar to an 
ordinary drawing-board, measuring twenty-four 
inches by sixteen, and like the pyramid itself, 
stained black. It is essential to the satisfactory 
working of the trick that the "base" section of the 
pyramid shall not shift when the thread is pulled. 
This is ensured by having two L shaped "stops" 
of thin wood glued or screwed to the board near the 
left hand corner nearest to the performer when in 
use. 

The trick may be introduced as follows : 
"I don't know whether any of you ladies and 
gentlemen are well up in Egyptology. I can't say 
I am, myself. I know a camel when I see one, but 
that is about as far as I have got. There is, how- 
ever, one point about it which has always inter- 
ested me very much. It is a point which has puz- 
zled not only the Egyptologists, but all the other 
ologists; namely, how the pyramids were built. 
They consist, as no doubt you know, of enormous 
masses of stone; so large that the cleverest engi- 
neers of our day cannot tell us how they were 
placed one upon another. If you can imagine the 
lifting of the Royal Exchange in one lump and 
dumping it down on the top of the Bank of Eng- 

i As a further precaution it should be painted flesh-color. 



120 LATEST MAGIC 

land, you will have some idea of the sort of job 
the Egyptian builders had to tackle. 1 Anyhow, 
the work was done, and as it is clear that it could 
not have been done by any known mechanical 
means, we are compelled to seek some other solu- 
tion of the problem. 

"I don't know whether any of you read novels. 
If you do, you must often have noticed the curious 
way in which fiction constantly anticipates fact. 
The novelist describes some utterly impossible 
thing, and a few years later some other fellow goes 
and does it. Jules Verne described a voyage 
under the sea long before the submarine was 
invented, and Mr. Wells wrote k The War in the 
Air' while the aeroplane and the Zeppelin were 
still in their infancy. But there is one conception 
of the novelist which has not till now been made 
an accomplished fact. That is the force called 
'Vril,' described by Lord Lytton in his novel, 'The 
Coming Race.' He describes Vril as a sort of 
hyper-electricity capable in the hands of those who 
know how to gather and use it, of producing all 
sorts of wonders, even to removing mountains. 
Imprisoned in a wand and directed by a strong 
will, it will shrivel up an enemy or a wild beast as 
by a flash of lighting. 

"I have always had an idea that this must have 
been the force used by the Egyptians to build the 

i Before an American audience the names of any two. well-known 
buildings in New York may be substituted. 



THE RIDDLE OF THE PYRAMIDS 121 

pyramids. I have managed to collect a small 
quantity of an unknown force which answers very 
closely to Lord Lytton's description of Vril, and 
I have charged this wand with it. As regards kill- 
ing things, I have only tested it so far on a black 
beetle. The experiment was a success. He was 
blown to atoms, all but one hind leg. I should 
like to try it on a tiger; if I could get one cheap. 
Does any gentleman present know of a second- 
hand tiger in a good strong cage going cheap? 
No? I was afraid you wouldn't. I am hoping 
however for a chance of trying it some night on 
a burglar. If a gentleman of the Bill Sykes per- 
suasion should steal into my chamber at dead of 
night with felonious designs upon my Waterbury 
and my collar stud, he will be as a dead man. I 
shall just point this wand at him and say 'Die,' 
and he will be merely a little heap of ashes to be 
swept up by the housemaid in the morning. 

"I can however give you an example of the power 
of my Vril as a motive force. I shall do so by 
using it to build or rather rebuild this little pyra- 
mid in your presence. 

"This is a correct copy of the real thing. It 
takes to pieces, as you see. One, two, three, four, 
five!" 

As he pronounces the last few words, the per- 
former, standing behind his table, picks up the 
pyramid, and holding it aloft in his right hand 
draws away the base from the other sections, slid- 



122 LATEST MAGIC 

ing it along the thread, and " bedding" it between 
the "stops" at the left hand bottom corner of the 
board. He then slides the other portions, one by 
one, along the thread in the same way, laying them 
in a row diagonally across the board. This will 
have taken up a considerable portion of the thread, 
but there will still be a Ioojj some inches in length 
hanging down near the left hand corner of the 
table. 

"Now please watch carefully. This wand, you 
will remember, has been carefully charged with 
my imitation Vril. ' ' 

While speaking these last words the performer 
gets one finger of his left hand within the loop. 
He now turns on the light at the end of the wand, 
and with it makes a quick sweep from right to left 
over the severed parts of the pyramid, making at 
the same time a half -turn away from the table, and 
quickly drawing away the thread. If this is clone 
neatly the severed parts of the pyramid run 
together one upon the other in a single instant. 

It is probable that the parts may not sit exactly 
one upon another. Whether this is so or not, the 
performer makes believe to notice that it is so, as 
it gives him a needful opportunity. He remarks : 

"The power was hardly strong enough, I see. 
There is a block here that needs a little straighten- 
ing up." Having meanwhile picked up the little 
cutter between the fingers he bends over the table 
and squares up the pyramid as may (or may not) 






THE RIDDLE OF THE PYRAMIDS 123 

be necessary, and under cover of so doing draws 
the blade across the thread where it crosses the 
top, thereby severing it, and then moving back a 
little to note the effect of his correction draws it 
away altogether. Shifting the restored pyramid 
to the centre of the board he brings all forward for 
examination. The severed thread is allowed to 
drop on the floor, to be picked up after the per- 
formance is over. 

THE MIRACLE OF MUMBO JUMBO 

The items needed for the presentation of this 
trick are as follows : 

(1) A miniature pagoda of quaint design. It 
consists of five circular sections, resting one upon 
another as illustrated in Fig. 21. The trick in 
effect consists of the automatic re-adjustment of 
these sections after being taken apart and shown 
lying apparently haphazard on a Japanese tray. 
For drawing-room use the pagoda is about six 
inches high and the same diameter across the base. 
For stage purposes it may be made a trifle larger. 

(2) The tray. This, for use with a pagoda of 
the size above mentioned, should be not less than 
twenty inches long by ten or twelve wide, and 
fairly heavy, as being less liable to shift in use. It 
must have an upright rim; through one corner of 
which a minute hole is bored, countersunk and 
polished on each side of the opening in order to 



124 



LATEST MAGIC 



diminish friction on a thread passing through it. 

(3) An electric torch in the shape of a bottle; 
the light showing itself at the mouth. 

(4) A black dress-hook, sewn point upwards to 
the lower edge of the performer 's vest on the right 




Fig. 21 



or left side, as may best suit his own position in 
working the trick, just where back and front meet. 
It will be found on examination of the pagoda 
that each of the parts of which it consists has a hole 
bored vertically through its centre. The topmost 
portion has in addition a pinhole passing horizon- 






THE MIEACLE OF MUMBO JUMBO 



125 



tally across it, about halfway down. Through this 
a black pin, bent at the head, passes as shown in 
Fig. 22. In preparation for the trick a piece about 
three feet long of black plaited silk line, with a 
small wire ring at one end, is passed by the aid of 
a needle through the hole in the tray from the outer 
side; thence upward through the various sections 
of the pagoda, beginning with the undermost, till 




Fig. 22 



it finally comes up through the head. After the 
needle has been drawn off, the end of the thread is 
formed into a loop, which is passed over the cross- 
pin before mentioned. The thread is then drawn 
taut from below, the several segments of the 
pagoda resting fairly one upon another in the cen- 
tre of the tray. The intermediate portion of the 
thread is drawn up till the little ring at the outer 
end comes close to the tray, and is laid upon it in 



126 LATEST MAGIC 

zigzag fashion so as prevent the possibility of 
its fouling at a critical moment. 

The introductory patter may run as follows : 

* ' In the course of my travels in Central Africa — 
you didn't know that I had been in Central Africa $ 
Strange, how little the world knows of its greatest 
men! But no matter! When I was in Africa I 
chanced to come upon the place where the Grolli- 
woggs live. 

"It's a nice place — for those who like that sort 
of place, but most people would find it a little too 
warm. It is so warm there that the hens lay their 
eggs hard-boiled, and you dig up potatoes ready 
baked. It is too warm for anything but simple 
life, — the very simple life, particularly as regards 
clothing. The ordinary walking dress for a gen- 
tleman Golliwogg is a pair of braces. The king 
wears two pairs; except on state occasions, when 
he wears one of those short shirts instead. You 
know the kind I mean — all front. I think they 
call them 'dickeys.' 

"The ladies are more dressy. They get the 
fashions from back numbers of the Daily Mail; 
kimonos and camisoles and corsets all in the latest 
style. They are made with green paint and put 
on with a shaving brush. There is only one thing 
that bothers the court dressmakers. They can't 
make a crinoline. ' ' 

[If desired to shorten the patter the fashion 
details may be omitted.] 



THE MIRACLE OF MUMBO JUMBO 127 

"I mention these little matters in order to give 
you an idea of the place, in case any of you might 
like to take a week-end trip there. If you are old 
and tough, you might risk it. If you are young 
and tender, you had better not. 

"The special point of interest is a curious pagoda 
in the centre of the village. It is seventy-five feet 
high and is supposed to be the habitation of Mumbo 
Jumbo ; a sort of deputy devil, much respected in 
those parts. This little model is an exact copy of 
it. You can't call it pretty, but there is a very 
remarkable thing about it. When the king 
dies (which happens by accident about once 
a fortnight) , the pagoda is pulled down, and if the 
new king is acceptable to Mumbo Jumbo (which 
depends upon the amount of his tip to the chief 
witch doctor) old Mum rebuilds it himself by 
magic. You don't see him do it. The pagoda just 
sits up and paws the air, so to speak If Mumbo 
does not approve, the proposed king gets a knock 
on the head with a cocoa-nut, and some more liberal 
Golliwogg is crowned instead. 

"I naturally wanted to know how the miracle 
was worked ; and I managed to buy the secret from 
one of the witch doctors. He sold it to me for a 
pair of sixpenny-half penny sock suspenders. He 
didn't wear socks, but that didn't matter. He put 
the suspenders on at once and strutted about, as 
proud as a dog with three tails. 

"Now, I am going to tell you the secret. Scien- 



128 LATEST MAGIC 

tists tell "us that the sun throws out three sorts 
of rays; light-rays, heat-rays, and force-rays. 
The artful witch doctors have found out a way of 
bottling off the force rays. They are mild at first, 
but when they get old in the bottle, so to speak, they 
become so strong that if you know how to do it you 
can lift the heaviest weights with them. 

"I managed to get hold of a small bottle of the 
rays" (show bottle) "and I will show you, on a 
very small scale, how the thing is done. 

"First, we will take the pagoda to pieces." 

Standing behind the table, the performer moves 
the pagoda to the corner of the tray nearest his 
own left hand ; so as to leave space for the different 
portions when separated. He then picks up all the 
parts save the base, holding them carefully 
together, and drawing away with them a length 
of the thread about equal to the diagonal of the 
tray. Passing the undermost section downwards 
along the thread, he lays it down beside the base, 
afterwards treating the other portions in the same 
way, the several portions finally resting on the tray 
somewhat as shown in Fig. 23. 

If the length of the thread has been properly 
gauged (this is a matter to be determined by 
experiment beforehand), there should be some 
twelve or fourteen inches of "slack." Slipping 
the ring at the end over the little hook before 
mentioned, the performer moves a little away 
from the table, so as to draw this portion 



THE MIRACLE OF MUMBO JUMBO 



129 



of the thread all but taut, between his own body 
and the tray. 

"And now to utilise our force rays." Holding 
up the bottle-shaped torch in his right hand, he 
turns its light onto the tray, at the same time edg- 
ing away farther from the table and moving about 
behind it so as to cause a gradual pull upon the 
thread; the effect being that the severed parts of 




Fig. 23 



the pagoda mount gradually one upon another in 
due order. It is probable that they will not rest 
exactly one upon the other. In any case the per- 
former affects to notice that they do not. Making 
a remark to that effect he steps close to the table 
to straighten them up, and under cover of so doing 
draws with the finger nail the pin in the uppermost 
portion, thereby releasing the thread. Stepping 
back again, as though the better to judge whether 
the pagoda is now " plumb," he thereby draws 



130 LATEST MAGIC 

away the line, and detaching the ring from the 
hook, lets it fall to the ground. This done, he 
returns to the table, and shifting the restored 
pagoda to the centre of the tray, brings all for- 
ward, inviting anyone who cares to do so, to satisfy 
himself that there has been "no deception." 

THE STORY OF THE ALKAHEST 

The requirements for this trick are as follows: 
(1) Two wands, exactly alike in appearance. 
One of them to be that just used in some previous 
trick or tricks (which we will call No. 2), and the 
other, prepared as to be presently explained, to 
be secretly substituted for it immediately before 
the presentation of the present trick. This can be 
easily done by the aid of a couple of pairs of cup- 
hooks fixed behind the table or a chair after the 
manner described in "Later Magic," p. 126; or 
the wands may be exchanged during journey to 
the table at an early stage of the trick; by means 
of a pocket of suitable shape within the left breast 
of the coat. This is a matter as to which the per- 
former will please himself, but the exhibition in 
the first instance of an obviously unprepared wand 
is essential to the artistic finish of the trick. 1 

1 1 am indebted to a clever amateur, Mr. Gordon Powell, for the 
knowledge of a very simple but effective method of "changing" a wand. 
The prepared article lies just within the forward rim of an oblong 
Japanese tray, and at a convenient moment the unprepared wand just 
used is laid behind and parallel with it. A little later this is pro- 



THE STORY OF THE ALKAHEST 131 

(2) Two pieces of ribbon, three-quarters to one 
inch wide, alike in colonr. Of these, one piece is 
to be wound round the end of wand No. 2 at about 
three inches from the end, and secured by a rub- 
ber ring, of the solid kind used for holding together 
the ribs of an umbrella. This wand, after being 
"switched" for the unprepared one, must be so 
placed upon the table that the end on which the 
ribbon is wound shall be masked from view by the 
second piece of ribbon, lying in a loose heap in 
front of it. 

(3) A stoppered bottle of clear glass, preferably 
of some ornamental or quaint design. This bears 
a label, of discoloured and time-worn appearance, 
with the letter II R written on it in crabbed but 
distinct characters, and is about half-filled with 
Eau de Cologne or lavender water, to which a few 
grains of cochineal have been added, giving it a 
rich ruby colour. So far as the working of the 
trick is concerned plain water might be used, but a 
coloured and scented liquid is preferable for the 
sake of effect. 

(4) A spare rubber ring, of the kind above 
described, placed in left-hand vest-pocket. 

fessedly picked up again, but as a matter of fact is pushed forward by 
the tips of the fingers, and takes the place of the prepared wand, which 
is picked up in its stead. 

A pack of cards may be "changed" for another after a similar fash- 
ion, the first finger and thumb picking up the faked pack, while the 
unprepared pack is ptished forward by the second and third fingers into 
the place it occupied. 



132 LATEST MAGIC 

The trick may be introduced as follows: 

"For the next surprise I have to show you we 
are indebted to the ancient alchemists. People 
regard them as back numbers nowadays, because 
they didn't know anything about aeroplanes, or 
appendicitis, or income tax and such-like up-to- 
date luxuries; but they had a good many useful 
little secrets of their own. One of them was the 
recipe for what was called the Alkahest, a liquid 
which immediately dissolved anything it touched; 
from a gold watch to a set of fire-irons. The secret 
of making it has long been lost, and all that still 
exists of the liquid itself I have here in this 
bottle." 

The bottle is here brought forward and offered 
for inspection. 

"Pretty colour, isn't it? And it has a very 
delightful perfume." (Takes out stopper.) 
"You are welcome to smell it but I don't advise 
you to taste it. If you did you would probably 
never taste anything again. I want you to notice, 
by the way, those two letters H R on the label. 
There is a dead secret attached to those letters. 
They mean something, of course; but nobody 
knows what it is." 

The bottle is replaced on the table. 

' ' This bottle came into my hands by inheritance. 
An ancestor of mine, in the reign of James the 
First, was an alchemist in a small way. He is 
reputed to have made a handsome income by sell- 



THE STORY OF THE ALKAHEST 133 

ing ladies something to put in their husbands' tea. 
History doesn't say what. Let us hope it was only 
sugar. Well, this old gentleman managed to get 
hold of the recipe for making the Alkahest. 
Whether he found it out himself, or whether he 
cribbed it from the cookery-book of some other 
alchemist, I can't say. Anyhow, he got it; and 
he made up some of the stuff and put it in that 
bottle. 

"When he was just going to be burnt as a wiz- 
ard, which was the regular thing with scientific 
men in those days, he handed the bottle to his eld- 
est son, my great-great-grandfather seventeen 
times removed, saying, ' Take it, my son, and may 
it do you more good than it has done me. ' 

"My great-great-grandfather took the bottle; 
but he had no idea what it contained. He was just 
going to ask his father what the letters on it meant, 
but just at that moment the old gentleman flared 
up, and it was too late. For the rest of his life my 
great-great-grandfather puzzled his head as to 
what those two letters H R stood for, but all he 
could think of was 'horse-radish,' and he knew 
it couldn't be that. 

"Since that the bottle has been handed down in 
our family for sixteen generations, till at last it 
came to the hands of my Uncle James, and he puz- 
zled over those letters like the rest. Uncle James 
was a bit of a 'nut,' and prided himself on his fine 
head of hair, but in course of time he found he was 



134 LATEST MAGIC 

getting a bit thin on the top, and it worried him. 
One day, thinking over the mysterious letters, an 
idea struck him. 'H R'! he explaimed, 'H R! 
why "Hair Restorer" of course, not a doubt of it! 
I'll try it this very night.' He did. He rubbed 
it in, and went to sleep quite happy, but when he 
tried to brush his hair in the morning there wasn't 
any left to brush. The Alkahest had taken it all 
off, and left him as bald as a baby. 

"He went to bed again, and ordered a wig, but 
before it could be sent home he caught such a 
cold in his head that he died. Just-sneezed-him- 
self-away. ' ' 

(The last words to be spoken slowly and sadly.) 

"I notice that some of you ladies are weeping. 
It is an affecting story, no doubt, and I used to 
shed a tear over it myself. But after all, you 
didn't know my Uncle James. Neither did I, for 
the matter of that, and if we had known him we 
might not have liked him. So we won't stop to 
grieve about him. 1 

"One of the most striking experiments with the 
Alkahest is the dissolving of a paving stone, par- 
ticularly if you lay a bunch of violets on it and 
dissolve them both together, when you get a scut- 
tleful of best Violet Powder. Unfortunately I 
haven't a paving stone handy, and I don't suppose 
any gentleman present is likely to have one about 

i If it is desired to shorten the patter the "Uncle James" episode 
may be omitted without serious detriment to the trick. 



THE STOEY OF THE ALKAHEST 135 

him. No? I feared not! Another pretty ex- 
periment is the dissolving of a diamond ring, 
but I have no diamond rings myself, and I find 
that if I borrow other people's and don't return 
them I get myself disliked. So I must try to show 
the power of the Alkahest in a less expensive way. ' ' 

Returning to his table, the performer with his 
right hand picks up the prepared wand (holding 
it so as to conceal the ribbon coiled upon it), and 
with the left hand the mass of loose ribbon. 

"I have here a piece of ribbon: just ordinary 
ribbon. Will some lady oblige me by tying a knot 
in it, about three inches from the end. Thank you ! 
Now will some other lady tie another knot about 
three inches from the first one." 

This is repeated till five or six knots have been 
tied, taking up about half the ribbon. 

"I am not sure how many knots have been tied. 
Please count them for me as I roll the ribbon round 
my wand." 

So saying, he winds the ribbon, beginning with 
the knotted end, on to the free portion of the wand, 
counting the knots as he does so, and continuing 
the winding till the whole has been taken up. In 
so doing he takes care to cover up the knots, and 
to make the appearance of the rolled ribbon cor- 
respond as nearly as possible with the hidden coil 
upon the other end, finally securing it with the rub- 
ber ring from his pocket. 

We will suppose that five knots are found to 



136 LATEST MAGIC 

have been tied. The performer returns to the 
table to fetch the bottle; and during the transit 
passes the wand to the opposite hand, in so doing 
drawing off the knotted ribbon (to be dropped a 
moment later into the profonde), and exposes the 
opposite end. He removes stopper from bottle, 
leaving it on the table. 

"Now comes the most critical part of the opera- 
tion. I am going by means of the Alkahest to 
dissolve these knots. How many did we say there 
were? Five? Then I must use five drops and 
no more. If I were to overdo it in the smallest 
degree the consequences would be serious. I 
should destroy the ribbon altogether, and in these 
hard times ribbon is ribbon, even if it is only six- 
three a yard." 

He brings forward the bottle, and with great 
pretence of accuracy lets fall on the ribbon the 
suggested number of drops. Then slipping off the 
rubber ring he offers the end of the ribbon to some 
member of the company to unwind, when the knots 
are naturally found to have disappeared. 

"The Alkahest retains its virtue, you see, even 
after so many years. Every knot is completely 
dissolved. I will conclude by asking you an 
impromptu riddle. Just one of those bright 
thoughts that strike me sometimes when I least 
expect it — 

"When is a knot not a knot?" 

"When it's not there. 



THE ORACLE OF MEMPHIS' 



137 



THE ORACLE OF MEMPHIS 

This is of the nature of a magical toy rather 
than a conjuring trick proper, but its exhibition 
may form a pleasant interlude in the course of a 
social entertainment. I invented it at an early 




»'liilini'"j j£. 

Fig. 24 



stage of my magical career, and exhibited it on 
various occasions for the amusement of friends, 
but made no further use of it. The apparatus has 
been put aside, and has been out of sight, out of 
mind, for many years past. Coming across it acci- 
dentally some short time ago, I was agreeably sur- 
prised to find that it would still answer questions 
as promptly, and doubtless as truthfully, as of 
yore. 



138 ' • LATEST MAGIC 

The general appearance of the apparatus, which 
is eight inches high by seven in outside diameter, 
is as depicted in Fig. 24. It consists of a circular 
mahogany stand or base, resting on three small 
feet, and surmounted by a glass dome b. This last 
is in fact a bell-glass, as used by gardeners, and 
has at top the usual knob, whereby to lift it. To 
this is attached a short loop of narrow ribbon. 
The glass dome does not rest directly on the stand, 
its lower edge being encased in a mahogany mount. 
From the centre of the stand rises a vertical pin, 
a quarter of an inch in height, serving as pivot for 
a metal pointer (Fig. 25), which, by means of a 
little cup, or socket, at its centre, can be lifted on 
and off, and revolves freely upon it, after the man- 
ner of a compass. A further item of the appara- 
tus is a reversible cardboard dial, whose two sides, 
front and back, are depicted 'in Figs. 26 and 27. It 
will be seen that the circumference of this dial is 
divided on the one side (Fig. 26) into four equal '[ 
sections, each bearing a pip of one of the four Suits. 
The other side (Fig. 27) is divided into eight sec- 
tions, marked with the numerals, from seven to ten 
inclusive, and the letters A, K, Q, and J, answering 
to Ace, King, Queen and Jack. 

With the Oracle is used a set of eight questions, 
and a piquet pack of cards, on the backs of which 
are written or printed thirty-two answers appro- 
priate to such questions, one of each suit to each 
question. The person consulting the Oracle hav- 



THE ORACLE OF MEMPHIS 



139 



ing selected the question lie or she desires to have 
answered, the dial is laid on the stand with the 
"suit" or Fig. 26 side uppermost, and the pointer 
is placed in position on its pivot. The querist is 
invited to breathe into the glass, which is then 
lowered on to the stand. The pointer begins to 
move, and after a moment or two of indecision, 




Fig. 26 



Fig. 25 



Fig. 27 



comes to rest opposite one or other of the four suit- 
pips ; we will suppose, for the sake of illustration, 
the diamond. The glass is then lifted off, the dial 
reversed, the pointer replaced, and the glass once, 
more lowered on to the stand. Again the pointer 
moves, and stops this time, we will say, at the num- 
ber "seven." The seven of diamonds is sought 



140 LATEST MAGIC 

for in the pack, and is found to bear a more or less 
appropriate answer to the question asked. 

The movements of the pointer are governed by 
the fact that, imbedded in the mahogany mount 
surrounding the base of the bell glass, is a piece 
of thick steel wire, strongty magnetised, and 
extending half way round the circle. The pointer, 
though so coloured as to have the appearance of 
brass, is in reality a magnetic steel needle, and 
therefore when resting on the pivot and covered 
by the glass, will automatically move round till 
it comes to rest between the two magnetic poles 
formed to the opposite ends of the hidden wire. 
The operator can therefore, by placing the glass 
cover accordingly, cause the indicator to stop at 
any part of the dial that he pleases. 

It remains to be explained what guides him in 
the manipulation of the glass, so as to cause the 
needle to stop at the point he desires. It will be 
remembered that, attached to the knob at the top 
of the glass, is a loop of ribbon, serving to suspend 
the glass in use from the forefinger, as shown in 
Fig. 28. But the loop has in truth a much more 
important function than this. Before the loop is 
formed, the ribbon is tied tightly round the neck 
of the knob, previously waxed to prevent its slip- 
ping round, and the knot is so placed that it shall 
exactly correspond with that pole of the magnet 
to which the point of the needle is intended to be 
in use attracted. This done, a loop is formed with 



THE OEACLE OF MEMPHIS 



141 



the two ends of the ribbon, and so arranged in 
point of length that when the glass is suspended 
from the forefinger, as in the diagram, the thumb 
and second finger of the operator shall be just right 
for moving it round in either direction, the little 
knot guiding him by feel to bring it to the desired 
point. 




Fig. 28 



The exhibitor is not limited to any particular 
set of questions and answers. At the cost of a 
fresh pack of cards and a little ingenuity, he can 



142 LATEST MAGIC 

please Mmself in this particular. The selection of 
suitable questions and answers is however a some- 
what delicate matter. The answers must on the 
one hand be smart enough to afford amusement 
to the company generally; and on the other hand 
must not be so pungent as to be likely to cause 
offence to a person jjutting the question. 

The questions and answers I devised for my own 
use ran somewhat as follows : 

1. What does my husband (or wife, as the case may be) most 

think about? 

ANSWERS 

Seven of Diamonds. Yourself. 

" Hearts. Money. 

" Spades. Dinnertime. 

Clubs. Golf. 

2. Shall I live to grow old? 

Eight of Diamonds. Yes, if you don't worry about it. 



" Hearts. 


A well-spent youth will be fol- 




lowed by a happy old age. 


" Spades. 


As old as you care to be. 


" Clubs. 


Yes, old, and fat. 


What is my chief fault ? 




Nine of Diamonds. 


You haven't any. 


" Hearts. 


Excessive modesty. 


" Spades. 


Flirting. 


" Clubs. 


Swank. 



Shall I have what I am wishing for ? 

Ten of Diamonds. Yes, if you deserve it. 
" Hearts. If you go the right way to get it. 



THE ORACLE OF MEMPHIS 



143 



Ten of Spades. 
Clubs. 



Not likely. 

It is like your cheek to wish for it. 



5. "What am I thinking about at this moment? 

Jack of Diamonds. A new hat. 
" Hearts. Servants, 

Spades. You wouldn 't like me to tell. 

Clubs. That it is a long time between 

drinks. 

6. What shall I do to get health? 

Queen of Diamonds. Don't think about it. 

Hearts. Keep smiling. 

Spades. Take Podger's Purple Pills. 

" Clubs. Eat less. 



7. How old am I ? 

King of Diamonds. 
Hearts. 



Spades. 
Clubs. 



Just right, don't get any older. 
"Whatever you are, you don't look 

it. 
You never tell, so I won't. 
Old enough to know better. 



8. "What shall I be this time next year ? 

Ace of Diamonds. A year older. 

Hearts. A trifle stouter. 

' ' Spades. A year wiser. 

Clubs, Bald as a baby. 

It will be found on comparing them that the 
answers are arranged on a regular system, those on 
the red cards being of a more or less complimen- 
tary nature, or otherwise favourable; the black 
suits less so, particularly the clubs, which are 



144 LATEST MAGIC 

rather the reverse, and are intended to be used as 
replies to gentlemen only. Bearing this arrange- 
ment in mind, it is a comparatively easy matter to 
suit the answer to the querist. 

The questions must be memorised in proper 
order, and it is desirable to do the same with the 
answers also, though there should be no difficulty, 
remembering the principle of arrangement, in giv- 
ing a fairly appropriate answer, even though the 
memory be for the moment at fault as to its exact 
terms. To avoid the necessity of giving the same 
answer more than once, it is well to make a rule 
that the same question shall not be asked more than 
three times. 

The Oracle may be introduced as follows : 
" Allow me to introduce to your notice a curio of 
an exceptionally interesting kind. This elegant 
little affair is said to have been the private Oracle 
of Rameses the Second, a gentleman who flourished 
in Egypt about four thousand years ago. I can't 
be sure to a year or two, because it was before my 
time, but I believe that is about right. People 
sometimes express surprise that, being so ancient, 
the Oracle should be in such good condition, but 
that is accounted for by its having been preserved 
in the same case as Eammy's mummy. I don't 
mean his mamma, but the gentleman himself, in 
the cold storage of the period. The story may or 
may not be true. I can't take any responsibility 
for it. Others declare that the Oracle was the f av- 



THE OKACLE OF MEMPHIS 145 

ourite plaything of Helen of Troy. Historians do 
tell such tarradiddles that one doesn't know what 
to believe. 

' ' The powers of the Oracle are limited, for it will 
only answer eight questions, and in its own way, 
but its answers are quite trustworthy — well, per- 
haps not quite. Let us say. as trustworthy as those 
of Bond Street fortune-tellers at a guinea a guess. 
Who will be the first to test its veracity ? 

"I should mention, by the way, that, as each 
answer exhausts a certain amount of power, the 
same question must not be asked more than three 
times. You would like to consult the Oracle, 
Madam 1 ? Then please select one of the questions 
on this card, and read it out for the information of 
the Company. 

"You wish to know" (repeating question). 
■■ • Grood. The answer to your question will be found 
on one or other of the cards in this pack, and the 
Oracle will tell us which one to look for. First, 
however, I must ask you to breathe into this glass. 
That supplies the missing link, so to speak, and 
makes it a sort of personal affair between you and 
the Oracle." (This is done.) 

' ' Thank you. Now I shall place the glass on its 
stand, and this little pointer" (holding it up and 
placing it on its pivot) will reveal the correct 
answer, first indicating the suit among which the 
answer is to be found. You may notice that it 
wobbles a bit at first. That is because it is think- 



146 LATEST MAGIC 

ing over the question. Now it lias come to rest, 
and it says the answer will be found in the" — 
(name suit.) "And now to find out which is the 
right card of that suit. I take off the glass and 
turn the dial over. Please concentrate your mind 
on your question. I put the glass and the pointer 
on again. Again the pointer thinks it over, and 
finally decides as you see, for the — " (naming 
number of card.) "Now all we have to do is to 
look out that card" (does so) "and here we have 
the answer to your question. ' ' 

Before inviting a fresh querist to breathe into 
the glass, it is well to wipe it out carefully with a 
silk pocket handkerchief, professedly to dispel the 
personal magnetism of the last enquirer, any 
remains of which, left within the glass, might 
imperil the correctness of the anticipated answer. 

THE MYSTERY OF MAHOMET x 

The reader is probably familiar with the trick 
known as "The Silver Tube and Ball." If not, 
it may be stated that the "tube" is of metal, nick- 
elled, and about eight inches long by one and a 
half in diameter. With it is used an ebony ball, 
which is made to pass into and out of the tube in a 
very surprising way. 

The secret lies partly in the fact that half way 

i A description of this trick will be found in The Magician for March, 
1914. 



THE MYSTERY OF MAHOMET 147 

down, the internal diameter of the tube is very 
slightly narrowed, forming a sort of "choke," so 
that a ball dropped into it at the upper end does 
not fall right through, as one would naturally 
expect, but stops at that point, wedging itself 
lightly, so that the tube can be reversed without 
any fear of the ball falling out, though it can be 
instantly driven out by bringing down the tube 
smartly on the table, or by very slight pressure 
behind it. 

The other part of the secret lies in the fact that 
two balls are in reality used, the existence of the 
second being of course unknown to the spectator. 
The tube being loaded as above mentioned, i.e. hav- 
ing the one ball wedged in it just below the choke, 
if the duplicate is dropped in from above it will 
apparently fall through, though as a matter of fact 
this ball comes to a standstill in the tube above the 
choke, while the other is driven out at the bottom. 
The secret use of this second ball enables the per- 
former to produce sundry surprising results in the 
way of appearances and disappearances. 

The possibilities of the trick in this form are 
however speedily exhausted, and it has a serious 
drawback in the fact that it is necessary to invert 
the tube afresh before each production, as it is 
obvious that a ball contained in it must be brought 
below the choke before it can be produced. I had 
at one time rather a fancy for the trick, but it 
seemed to me that it was capable of a good deal of 



148 



LATEST MAGIC 



improvement, and after some cogitation I suc- 
ceeded in producing a new trick on somewhat sim- 
ilar lines ; but free from the defect mentioned above 
and capable withal of producing a far wider variety 
of effects. 

I use two tubes of stiff cardboard, each about 
four inches long by one and a half in diameter. 
One of these is just a plain tube with no speciality 




Fig. 29 



about it. The other has a piece of fine wire cross- 
ing it midway from side to side, and taking the 
form of a half hoop, as shown in Fig. 29, the ends 
serving as pivots on which it moves freely. On the 
outside, one of its ends is turned down vertically, 
forming a tiny switch or handle. The normal 
tendency of the halfhoop is to hang downward 
across the tube (thereby closing it to the passage of 
a ball) but a touch of the finger, moving the little 



THE MYSTERY OF MAHOMET 149 

switch to right or left, raises the loop to a hori- 
zontal position against one or other of the sides 
of the tube, when it no longer offers any obstacle 
to the passing of the ball. The wire used is so thin 
that with the halfhoop lying against its side a spec- 
tator may safely be allowed to look through the 
tube even at a very short distance, without fear of 
his perceiving the presence of the wire. 

The requirements for the trick, all told, are as 
follows : 

(1) The wand. 

(2) The plain tube. 

(3) The trick tube. 

(4) Two white balls. 

(5) A red ball. 

(6) A lighted candle. 

(7) A small red silk handkerchief. 

One of the white balls must be vested or other- 
wise so placed as to be ready for production from 
the wand. The second white ball and the red ball 
are stowed in the pochettes, one on each side. The 
faked tube may be vested and exchanged for the 
plain one during the journey back to the table 
after the dummy has been tendered for inspec- 
tion; the latter being dropped into the profonde. 
These however are matters which the expert will 
arrange after his own fashion. If the perfor- 
mer, not being an expert, doubts his ability to 



150 LATEST MAGIC 

"change" the tubes neatly during the transit, he 
may suppress the plain tube altogether and com- 
mence at once with the exhibition of the faked tube 
from the platform, but the omission makes the 
trick less convincing. 

We will suppose that the performer goes for 
the maximum effect and advances offering the 
dummy tube for inspection. The patter I suggest 
for the trick in this form runs as follows : 

"I have here, ladies and gentlemen, a hollow tube. 
It is not uncommon for tubes to be hollow, but this 
one is, if anything, even hollower than usual. I 
should like some lady or gentleman to examine it 
carefully and testify that it is just a plain ordinary 
tube with absolutely no deception of any sort about 
it. If it was not so, you may be sure I should 
hardly venture to let you examine it. You can see 
through it, hear through it, or blow through it. 
You are satisfied ? Then 1 will show you a curious 
little experiment with it. ' ' 

During the return to the table the dummy is 
exchanged for the trick tube. 

"I call the experiment I am about to show you 
'The Mystery of Mahomet.' I gave it that name 
because it was Mahomet who suggested the idea to 
me. I don't mean personally. I didn't know 
him. In point of fact he did not give me the idea 
till after he had been dead for some years. This 
sounds peculiar, but I will explain. 

"When Mahomet died he wasn't buried like 



THE MYSTERY OF MAHOMET 151 

other people. His coffin was placed in a mosque, 
where it hangs in the air like a captive balloon, 
about twenty feet up, resting on nothing at all. I 
am not certain as to the exact height from the 
ground, but that is what the Moslems say, and they 
would hardly tell a story about a little thing like 
that. It has always been a mystery what keeps 
the prophet up aloft. Some say it is done by mes- 




FlQ. 30 



merism, some say by magnetism, and one old gen- 
tleman declared it was done by mormonism. No 
doubt, when you come to think of it Mahomet was 
a bit of a Mormon. But they are all wide of the 
mark. As a matter of fact the coffin rests on a 
slab of compressed air. It's quite simple, when 
you know it. I haven't a coffin handy, but by 
means of this little tube I can show you the effect 
of the same principle on a smaller scale. 



152 LATEST MAGIC 

"As some of you have not had the opportunity 
of personally examining the tube I should like to 
prove to you in the first place that it is really what 
it appears to be, a simple cardboard cylinder, open 
from end to end, and as free from deception as I 
am myself. 

"Proof 1." (Wand dropped through tube on 
to table.) 

' * Proof 2. " ( Tube held in front of candle show- 
ing flame through it. ") 

"Proof 3." (Tube dropped over candle as in 
Fig. 30, or spun on wand, held horizontally as in 




iiimamiiimmioiiiiiiiimmi 1 
| | 




Fig. 31 



Fig. 31 ; the halfhoop in each case being made to 
lie against the side of the tube.) 

"I have here a little ball, of such a size that it 
passes easily through the tube. ' ' x The ball is 
allowed to fall through, from the one hand to the 
other. 

Now I will place the tube upright on the 

i If preferred the ball instead of being taken openly from the table, 
may be produced from the wand after the fashion familiar in the Cup 
and Ball trick, but on the whole I think this is best omitted. 



THE MYSTEEY OF MAHOMET 153 

table and drop the ball in once more. Where is it 
now? On the table, you say. Quite right: here 
it is." (Lift tube, closing it, and placing it on 
end beside ball.) "But now I take a few handfuls 
of air and press them well down into the tube" 
(makes believe to do so), "and I drop the ball in 
again. This time you see it does not fall through. 
As a matter of fact it has stopped halfway, resting 
on the compressed air in the tube." (Lift tube, 
showing that the ball has not passed through. 
After replacing the tube switch the wire loop to 
the horizontal position, allowing the ball to drop 
inside the tube.) "I think there can be no doubt 
that this is the way Mr. Home, the medium, man- 
aged to float about with his head in the air and his 
feet on the mantelpiece. All that was needed was 
a few pints of compressed air in his tail-pockets. 
It's quite simple, when you know how it's done. 

"Of course, as the tube is open at the top, the 
effect doesn't last very long. The compressed air 
gradually expands again and becomes too thin to 
support the ball any longer. I dare say by this 
time it has done so." (Lift tube, exposing ball, 
and re-closing tube). "Yes, here it is." 

"I can keep the air from escaping to a certain 
extent, because I happen to have a very strong 
won't. A strong will is a good thing to have, but 
sometimes a strong won't is even more useful. 
Once again I will fill the tube with compressed air. ' ' 
(Make believe to do so, then pick up the closed 



154 LATEST MAGIC 

tube.) "I drop the ball in again, and this time it 
will remain suspended till I permit the compressed 
air to escape. ' ' (Pick up tube, holding it vertically 
a few inches above the table.) "Say when you 
would like the ball to fall. Now % Good ! I with- 
draw my strong won't and the ball falls at once." 
(Switch loop, allowing it to do so, then pass tube, 
closing it, to opposite hand and load into it dupli- 
cate ball at top; then replacing tube on table.) 

"Now, by way of variety, we will try compress- 
ing the ball instead of the air. ' ' (Pick up ball left 
on table and make believe to transfer it to the oppos- 
ite hand. Then, with the left hand empty, make 
pretence of crushing it into the hand.) "The ball 
is now resolved into its component atoms. You 
didn't see them go? No, of course you didn't. 
For the time being they are dematerialised : but the 
compressed air in the tube will soon solidify them 
again." (Lift tube, keeping ball suspended.) 
"It has not got solid yet, but we shall not have long 
to wait." (After a few moments again lift tube, 
opening it and allowing ball to pass through.) 
"Here is the ball, now as solid as before." 

Transfer tube closed to opposite hand and in so 
doing load in red ball at top. In replacing tube 
on table open and close it again, so that the ball 
shall fall, but shall rest within the tube on the 
table. 

"Now I will show you another curious effect. A 
ball which has been dematerialised in that way 



THE MYSTERY OF MAHOMET 155 

becomes very sensitive to colour. I will just give 
the ball a rub with this red silk handkerchief and 
drop it into the tube again." Drop in white ball 
after rubbing, keeping tube closed; then raise it 
and show red ball at bottom. 

"Here it is again, you see, but it has taken the 
colour of the handkerchief and is now a rosy red, 
a sort of maiden's blush; the blush of a very shy 
maiden. Unfortunately maiden's blush is not a 
fast colour, unless it's the wrong kind; the kind 
that's rubbed in with a powder puff. This kind 
soon gets- pale again. I rub the ball again, this 
time with a white handkerchief, and again drop 
it into the tube. ' ' 

Drop in red ball, tube closed, lift and show white 
ball, under cover of its appearance transferring 
tube to opposite hand and allowing red ball to 
run back into palm to be got rid of a moment 
later. 

"I think I heard a lady say, 'Where is the red 
ball'?' This is the red ball, at least it was the red 
ball a moment ago. There is no other, for, as you 
see, the tube is empty. ' ' 

Again drop tube over candle as in Fig. 30. Pass 
ball from hand to hand and finally make believe to 
swallow it, meanwhile dropping it into the pro- 
fonde. 

"After being treated like this the ball becomes so 
volatile that I used to be always losing it. But I 
never lose it now. I just swallow it and then I 



156 LATEST MAGIC 

know just where it is when I want it. It saves a 
lot of trouble. ' ' 



THE BEWILDERING BLOCKS 

The blocks which give its title to this trick are 
inch-square wooden cubes, three in number, as 
illustrated in Fig. 32. Each is coloured black on 
two of its opposite sides ; these in use being made 
top and bottom. The four remaining sides are in 
the case of one block red, of another white, and of 
a third blue. The only other item of apparatus 
known to the spectators is a square cardboard tube, 
as depicted in Fig. 33. This is about five inches 
long, and of such dimensions laterally as to let 
either block slide by its own weight easily through 
it, but no more. All four items may be freely sub- 
mitted to inspection, for in this case appearances 
are not deceitful. Both the blocks and the tube are 
no more and no less than they seem to be. 

In exhibiting the trick, the tube is placed upright 
on the table, and the three blocks are dropped into 
it one after another, the company being requested 
to note particularly the order in which they are 
inserted, which we will suppose to be in the first 
instance blue, then white, and lastly red, as shown 
without the tube in Fig. 32. It is clear that, once 
inserted, they cannot by any natural means alter 
their relative positions, but, strange to say, when 
they are again uncovered, the red block just 



THE BEWILDERING BLOCKS 



157 



inserted at the top is found to have passed to the 
bottom, the other two moving up accordingly. 

This surprising effect is produced by the secret 
introduction into the tube of a fourth block of 
which the spectators know nothing. This, which 





Fig. 32 



Fig. 33 



Fig. 34 



we will call the " trick" block, is, like the rest, col- 
oured black at the top and bottom; but of the 
remaining four sides two, contiguous to each other, 
are red, and the other two blue. 
When the tube is handed back to the performer 



158 LATEST MAGIC 

after inspection, before placing it on the table lie 
secretly introduces the trick block into its lower 
end, privately noting against which sides of the 
tube the two red faces will lie, and taking care in 
placing the tube upon the table that the angle 
formed by these two sides shall be to the front. 
The other three blocks are then, in accordance with 
the patter, dropped in from above, in the order 
shown in Fig. 32, resting, unknown to the specta- 
tors, on top of the trick block. When the performer 
lifts off the tube, which he does grasping it diagon- 
ally between thumb and finger at about an inch 
from the top, he does so with gentle pressure, 
thereby holding back the uppermost block within 
the tube, and exposing the two others with the trick 
block at the bottom, as indicated by Fig. 34. 

I gave a description of this trick in the Magician 
of February, 1914. The patter for its exhibition 
was based on a popular nursery legend, and as this 
mode of presentation won general approval from 
the juveniles I cannot do better than repeat it prac- 
tically as there given. The needful working 
instructions will be found interspersed with the 
patter. 

"What I am going to show you now is not a trick, 
or, if you can call it a trick, it is one that works 
itself, for you will see for yourselves that I have 
really nothing to do with it. It is just an illustra- 
tion of the force of bad example. 

"No doubt you have all heard of a young gentle- 



THE BEWILDERING BLOCKS 159 

man called Fidgety Phil, There is a little poem 
about him. It says : 

'Fidgety Phil 

Couldn't keep still, 
Made his mother and father ill. ' 

" There are a lot more verses but I am sorry to 
say I don't know them. However, these few lines 
are enough to show you what sort of a boy Fidgety 
Phil was. He was the kind of boy that wherever 
he is, he wants to be somewhere else. When he 
was standing up he wanted to sit down, and when 
he was sitting down he wriggled about on his chair 
till he was allowed to stand up again. 

" These little blocks are all that are left of a 
box of bricks which are said to have belonged to 
Fidgety Phil and they show what even a box of 
bricks may come to if a bad example is constantly 
set before them. These three little bricks have got 
to be just as fidgety as Phil was himself. Any- 
how, that is the only way in which I can account 
for their queer behaviour. 

' ' Please have a good look at them, and see if you 
can discover anything peculiar about them. I 
can't, myself. " (The blocks are handed for exam- 
ination.) "They seem to me to be just ordinary 
bits of coloured wood, and this square tube is 
believed to have been a chimney pot belonging to 
the same set. I want you to notice particularly 
that the bricks are just the right size to fit closely 



160 LATEST MAGIC 

in the chimney. They go in quite easily ; but when 
they are once inside they can't turn round, or turn 
over, or change places. But the curious thing is 
that though they can't they do, as you will see 
presently. 

"I place the chimney-pot here on the table, 
where you can see all round it, and I drop the 
three bricks into it one by one. Notice particu- 
larly the order in which I put them in. First, the 
blue. You heard it go down. Next, the white, 
and now, the red. Don't forget. Blue at the bot- 
tom, white in the middle, and red at the top. 

"Now, without my saying or doing anything, 
they will at once begin to shift about. They can't 
keep still for more than a few seconds. When I 
lift off the chimney pot, you will find that they have 
changed places." (It is lifted accordingly, per- 
former holding back the uppermost block within it 
by gentle pressure on opposite angles of the tube, 
and exhibiting only the three lower blocks now as 
in Fig. 34.) 

"There, as I told you, like Fidgety Phil, they 
couldn't keep still. The white brick has climbed 
to the top, the red one has gone down to the bot- 
tom, and the blue one is now in the middle. 

"We will try again. I will put the bricks in in 
just the same order, to make it easier for you to 
remember them." 

Performer has meanwhile allowed the red block, 
left in the upper part of the tube, to sink to the 






THE BEWILDERING BLOCKS 161 

bottom, checked by the third finger, and replaces 
tube upright on table. 

"As before, I drop in first the blue, then the 
white, then the red." (This last being the trick 
block, care must be taken to keep its red sides well 
to the front.) 

" Again I left off the chimney pot, and again 
you see, the bricks have changed places. White 
has come to the top, and red has gone to the bottom 
again. ' ' 

The trick block, which this time remained at 
the top, is now allowed to slide down to the bottom. 
The tube is again placed on the table, but so turned 
that the blue sides of the block within it are brought 
to the front. 

''I can't tell you why the bricks behave in this 
way, but you can see for yourselves that I have 
nothing to do with it. We will try it once more, 
and for a change I will put the red block in first, 
then the white and then the blue. That order will 
be easy to remember. Red, white and blue reckon- 
ing from the bottom upwards. Again I remove the 
cover. The same thing has happened again, but 
with a little difference. White has come to the 
top again, but blue has this time gone to the bot- 
tom. ' ' 

While attention is drawn to the new order of 
the blocks, the performer allows the ordinary blue 
one, now left in the tube, to slide out into his hand, 
and in picking up the others secretly substitutes 



162 LATEST MAGIC 

this for the trick block, which is now at the bottom 
of the tube. 

"Once more, ladies and gentlemen, here is the 
chimney pot, and here are the three bricks, for 
inspection by any one who cares to look at them. 
Perhaps some of you may be able to account for 
their remarkable behaviour. It's a puzzle to me; 
but I never was good at guessing. My own idea is 
that they are haunted by the ghost of Fidgety 
Phil. If not, I give it up. ' ' 

AN "OD" FORCE 

To avoid misconception, it may be well to state 
at once that the peculiar spelling of the word "od" 
in the above title is not a printer's error. The 
explanation will be found in the patter, which is 
founded on a discovery claimed to have been made 
by a scientist at one time of world-wide renown, 
and the responsibility for so spelling the word rests 
with him. For programme purposes the reader 
is at liberty to re-name the trick according to his 
own fancy. "Mysterious Motion," or "Moved by 
Magic" would fairly represent the effect produced, 
which consists in causing a borrowed coin to move 
automatically at the will of the operator, in various 
directions. 

The requirements for the trick are as follows : 
(1) The "tramway" whereon the coin is to be 
made to travel. This consists of a slab of wood 



AN" 



"OD" 



FORCE 



163 



thirteen inches long by four wide, and three- 
eighths of an inch thick and covered as to its upper 
side with fine black cloth. To the cloth-covered 
side of this is attached, by means of a screw at 
each corner, a parallelogram of brass or copper 
wire enclosing a space two inches wide. The four 
screws, which are likewise of brass, and which are 




Fig. 35 



of the round-headed kind, are within the parallelo- 
gram and serve to keep the wire extended. Mid- 
way at each end is another screw, driven in out- 
side the wire, in such manner as to make all taut. 
These last two screws, for a reason connected with 
the working of the trick, stand up a shade higher 
than the other four, but the difference is not great 
enough to be noticeable. See Fig. 35. 



164 "LATEST MAGIC 

(2) A special "pull" carried on the person of 
the performer. This consists of a fine black 
thread, to one end of which is attached a weight 
travelling up and down the trouser leg, after the 
manner described (in connection with a self -sus- 
pending wand) at page 111 of "Later Magic." In 
the present case, however, the weight is much 
smaller, being in fact just large enough to rather 
more than counterbalance the coin used in the, 
trick, plus the friction to be overcome by the thread 
in the working of the trick. The degree of such 
friction is an uncertain quantity, as it will largely 
depend on the nature of the operator's underwear 
and its closeness to his own body. The precise 
weight most effective must be ascertained by pre- 
vious experiment, and regulated accordingly. 

It will be found convenient to use by way of 
weight a glass tube, closed at the bottom like a 
test-tube and loaded with buckshot, more or less 
in quantity according to the weight required. 
The mouth of the tube is closed by a cork, through 
which one end of the thread is passed, and secured 
on the under side by a knot and a spot of gum. 
When the minimum weight that will effectually 
serve the desired purpose has been ascertained, any 
vacant space above the leaden pellets should be 
filled with cotton wool (to prevent rattling) and the 
cork should then be cemented into the tube. If 
preferred, the wool may be interspersed among the 
buckshot. 






AN" "od" force 165 

The opposite end of the thread, which will be 
somewhere about thirty inches in length (this again 
being a point to be determined by experiment), 
is passed through the curled end of a good-sized 
safety pin. This, for use in the trick, is attached 
to the inside of the performer's vest, just within 
the lowest part of the opening. To the free-end 
of the thread, after passing through the loop of 
the pin, is attached a disc of copper or zinc, three- 
quarters of an inch in diameter, against which, on 
one side, is pressed and flattened out a pellet of 
conjurer's wax, in good adhesive condition. If the 
length of the thread has been duly regulated, the 
little disc will rest normally just within the vest, 
but can be drawn out the extent of a couple of feet 
or so, returning swiftly to its hiding place the 
moment it is released. 

(3) A glass ball — professedly crystal. 

(4) An ordinary match-box, empty. 
Instructions for the working of the trick will 

be most conveniently given step by step with the 
patter, which may run as follows : 

"In the early days of Queen Victoria's reign, 
when the oldest of us here present were good little 
boys or girls, and the rest were not born or thought 
of, there lived a celebrated scientific gentleman, 
called the Baron von Reichenbach. I am sorry to 
say he was a German, but he couldn't help it. As 
his father and mother were Germans, he had to be 
one too. It shows how careful children ought to be 



166 LATEST MAGIC 

in the choice of their parents. He invented a lot of 
useful things, among them creosote and paraffin. 
Neither of them smells very nice, but they don't 
trouble about that in Germany. 

" Besides being a great chemist, Von Thingany 
dabbled in what are called the occult sciences, and 
he claimed to have discovered a new force (a sort 
of magnetism, only different) and which, he 
declared, pervaded every thing in nature, espe- 
cially crystal. Directed by a strong will, like his 
own, or mine, it would do all sorts of wonderful 
things. It seemed to me that such a force would 
come in very handy for magical purposes, and I 
set to work to invent it over again, and I have at 
any rate produced something very like it. The 
Baron called his force 'odd,' but he spelt it 'od,' 
which is odd too. You must judge for yourselves 
whether my force is the same as his, and you can 
spell it which way you like. 

"I have only been able so far to work up a very 
small amount of the force, say about six-mouse- 
power, so it won't turn tables, or lift pianos. I can 
only get it, so far, to move a small weight like a 
florin or a half-dollar, and that only for a very short 
distance. For greater conveniences I have made 
this little tramway for the coin to perform upon. 
These wires which you see are not for it to travel 
on, but merely to get more equal distribution of 
the force. There is nothing out of the way about 



AN "od" force 167 

it, nor with this ball, except that it is crystal. 
Examine both as much as you please. ' ' 

The two articles are accordingly offered for 
inspection. The performer takes back the tram- 
Way in the left hand, holding it by one end in such 
manner that it is gripped in the fork of the thumb, 
leaving the thumb itself comparatively free. Tak- 
ing back the ball with the right hand and remark- 
ing "Now to develop the force," he rubs it on his 
left coat-sleeve, and strokes the surface of the tram- 
way two or three times with it. 

"Having now established a proper degree of 
'oddity' between the tram and the crystal, I will 
ask for the loan of a half-dollar (or florin as the 
case may be) marked in any way the owner 
pleases." 

He replaces the ball on the table, and in the act 
of again turning to the audience gets hold of the 
waxed disc and draws it away from the body, hold- 
ing it clipped between the ends of the first and sec- 
ond fingers, the left thumb pressing the thread 
against the cloth top of the tramway, and acting for 
the time being (and indeed throughout the trick) 
as a brake neutralising at pleasure the pull of the 
weight. 

He receives the coin on the tramway ; then pick- 
ing it up with the right hand, makes some obser- 
vation as to the mark, meanwhile pressing the 
waxed side of the disc against it, then replacing it, 
disc down, in the middle of the tramway. 



168 LATEST MAGIC 

"I shall now, by means of the 'od' force, compel 
the coin to move towards me." This he does 
accordingly, by relaxing the pressure of the thumb 
upon the thread and merely bringing the pull of 
the weight into operation. When the coin has all 
but reached the nearer end of the tramway, he says, 
"We will now see if we can make it travel a little 
longer distance." So saying he draws the thread 
out again and lays the coin on the farther end of 
the tram, and again makes it travel slowly back. 
A good effect may be here produced by making it 
stop half-way, and (after remarking in a casual 
way that the power is hardly strong enough) pick- 
ing up the ball, again rubbing it upon the sleeve 
and moving it, a few inches distance, in the direc- 
tion in which the coin is to travel, when it resumes 
its journey accordingly. 

Once more picking up the coin, he replaces it at 
the farther end of the tramway, but in so doing 
passes the thread outside and around the screw at 
that end. He then remarks, as if bethinking him- 
self: "By the way, a lady suggested the other 
night that the coin was attracted towards me by 
my personal magnetism. I know I am an attrac- 
tive man: I have been told so frequently but that 
is not the explanation in this case, as I will prove 
to you by making the coin travel away from me." 
So saying, he draws the coin towards him, easing 
off the pressure on the thread to enable him to do 
so, and leaves it at the inner end. The ball is 



THE MYSTERY OF THE THREE SEALS 169 

now moved away from himself, and the pressure 
of the brake being relaxed, the coin is now drawn 
in the same direction. 

"Quod erat demonstrandum/' as our old friend 
Shakespeare (or was it Euclid) used to say. " (To 
the lender of the coin.) "You must take care of 
this coin, Sir; it is now charged with a minute 
quantity of the W force, and so long as you 
keep it you can never be ' stony-broke. ' I will show 
you just one more effect with it before I return it to 
you." 

While speaking, he has carelessly picked up the 
coin, and replaced it on the inner side of the screw 
so that this shall be no longer encircled by the 
thread. Picking up the match box from the table, 
he pushes out the "tray" portion with the fore- 
finger ; then throwing aside the outer case, he picks 
up the tray, and inverts it over the coin. 

"I will now show you that the 'od' force still 
operates even though it is cut off from any direct 
connection with the subject of the experiment: but 
in this case a little more power is required." So 
saying he rubs the glass ball again on his coat- 
sleeve, and, moving the ball accordingly, causes the 
coin to travel towards him, the matchbox natur- 
ally moving with it. In again picking up the coin, 
to return it to the owner, he detaches it from the 
disc, which flies back to its original resting-place, 



170 LATEST MAGIC 



THE MYSTERY OF THE THREE SEALS 

This is a trick involving some little trouble in 
the way of preparation, and perhaps a little more 
than average address on the part of the performer, 
but on the other hand it costs little; for all the 
needful appliances may be homemade, and in the 
hands of an expert the trick will amply repay the 
time and trouble expended upon it. Baldly stated, 
its effect consists in the magical introduction of a 
marked coin into the innermost of a nest of three 
envelopes, each securely sealed. 

The requirements for the trick are as under : 

1. Two nests of envelopes. The innermost of 
each is one of the little square kind used in shops 
to contain copper "change," or to hold the weekly 
wage of an employee. It should be of cartridge or 
stout manila paper, and about two inches square. 
The next larger is of the ordinary square or so- 
called square-note size, and the third a little larger 
still. Envelopes of the two last mentioned sizes 
are not always to be obtained made of cartridge 
or manila, but this condition is not in their case 
absolutely essential. The flap of each envelope 
must be stuck down and sealed with red wax. 1 

2. A special envelope, which we will call the 

i If the performer does not object to the slight additional trouble, 
he will find an easy method of obtaining envelopes exactly square and 
of any desired description of paper, indicated in the chapter entitled 
"A Few Wrinkles," post. 



THE MYSTERY OF THE THREE SEALS 



171 



'" trick" envelope. This is of the same size and 
kind as the innermost of the nested envelopes but 
has undergone special preparation as follows: 
Taking two ordinary envelopes, cut round the 
edges of one of them with a penknife, completely 
dividing back from front. Take the plain or non- 
flap side of the one so treated, lay it squarely under 




Fig. 36 



the flap of the other, and stick the flap down upon 
it in the ordinary way: then add a seal of red 
wax, as closely as possible corresponding in appear- 
ance with the two seals of the innermost of the 
nested envelopes. Lastly, cut away the super- 
fluous paper round the seal and the edges of the 
flap. The envelope will now be shown as in Fig. 
36, and when closed will have the appearance of 
an envelope sealed in the ordinary way, though it 



172 LATEST MAGIC 

as yet lacks the connecting medium for actually 
securing it. 

3. The "coin mat" (page 4) freshly treated 
with the usual adhesive. The side so treated is to 
be turned downwards on the table with a shilling 
pressed against the adhesive portion. 

4. A penknife, to be used as envelope opener. 
As shortly as possible before the presentation of 

the trick, the trick envelope must be further pre- 
pared by spreading a thin layer of seccotine on that 
portion of the underside of the flap immediately 
under the seal. 

N. B. This must not be done too long before- 
hand, as it is essential to the success of the trick 
that the envelope be used while the seccotine is still 
in a " tacky" condition. 

The envelope prepared as above, to be laid on the 
table, behind some small object, or preferably just 
inside the foremost rim of a Japanese tray ; at one 
corner, mouth uppermost, and flap to the rear. 
Under these conditions, the butting of the opposite 
edge of the envelope against the forward wall of 
the tray will be found greatly to facilitate the sub- 
sequent introduction of the borrowed coin. Before 
so placing the envelope, its edges on each side 
should be pressed slightly inwards, so as to make 
it expand a little at the opening. 

These arrangements duly made, the performer 
may introduce the trick as follows : 

"I don't know whether anybody here remembers 



THE MYSTERY OF THE THREE SEALS 173 

George the Third, I can't say I do myself. He 
was. before my time, but there is a funny little story 
told about him. One day when out for a walk, he 
went into a farmhouse where he found the family 
having their dinner. One dish consisted of apple- 
dumplings, and the question crossed the King's 
mind, 'How on earth did the apples get into the 
diunplings ? ' He didn't like to ask, but he 
couldn't get the puzzle out of his head. He 
thought about it so much and it worried him so 
that at last he went clean out of -his mind. He 
became non compos mentis, which is the doctors' 
polite way of saying dotty. 

' ' I mention this story by way of a caution. What 
I am going to show you is ever so much more incom- 
prehensible than any number of apple dumplings ; 
in fact, so extra-extraordinary that if anybody here 
was the least bit 'excitable and I sprung it upon 
him unawares he might go dotty like old Georgie. 
So if any of you feel at all nervous, don't hesitate 
to go home, or you can go and sit on the stairs 
till this particular experiment is over. Nobody 
moves! I am pleased to find that you are all so 
strong-minded, but if anything happens don't 
blame me. 

' ' I have known strong men ; men of massive intel- 
lect, like myself, come here with a smile on their 
faces, but when they left the smile was replaced by 
an air of grim determination. You could see at 
a glance that they had made up their minds to find 



174 LATEST MAGIC 

out how it was done, or die. They haven't come 
again : so I suppose they died. 1 

"As you are prepared to run the risk I will ask 
some gentleman to oblige me with the loan of a 
shilling, marked in some unmistakable way. 
Thank you, Sir. You have marked the coin? 
Then please place it here, on this little tray. I 
won't touch it myself at present. All please keep 
one eye upon it, the other eye you had better keep 
on me." 

Receive the coin on the mat, held in right hand. 
After showing the left hand empty, transfer the 
mat to that hand and show the right empty. 
Return the mat to right hand, but before doing so 
turn that hand over so as to receive the mat with 
thumb undermost. Just as you reach the table 
to place the mat upon it bring the second and third 
fingers over the borrowed coin, and under cover 
of your own body turn the mat over. In putting it 
down on the table draw away the borrowed coin 
into the hand and palm it. To the eye of the spec- 
tator the state of things will be unaltered, your 
own coin, now uppermost on the mat, being taken 
for the borrowed one. 

You continue, standing behind your table, and 
resting the right hand, with the palmed coin, close 
to the trick envelope, and holding up the two nests 

i This rigmarole may equally well be used by way of introduction to 
any other trick of sufficient importance. King George's puzzlement 
about the dumplings is said to be a matter of history, but, I do not 
guarantee it as a fact. 



THE MYSTERY OF THE THREE SEALS 175 

in the other hand: "I have here two envelopes, 
or, to be exact, six envelopes, for each of those you 
see contains two more, one within the other: all 
carefully sealed. I am going to pass the coin this 
gentleman has lent me into the innermost of one 
or other of them, I don't care which, for they are 
exactly alike, so I shall leave the choice to your- 
selves. ' ' 

While you are speaking as above the disengaged 
hand slips the genuine coin into the trick envelope, 
closes it, pressing the flap well down, and palms it, 
dropping it a moment or two later into a pochette 
till needed. 

"You decide for this envelope? Just as you 
please. As the other will not be needed I will ask 
somebody to open it, and bear witness that things 
are exactly as I have stated. ' ' 

Leaving the chosen envelope on the table in full 
view and bringing forward the other, have the lat- 
ter opened by some member of the company with 
the penknife. Hand the envelope produced from 
it, with the knife, to a second spectator, to be dealt 
with in like manner. When the innermost is 
reached, have this opened by the lender of the 
marked coin: this apparent proof of good faith 
tending to make him less critical when, at a later 
stage, he is invited to do the same with the trick 
envelope. 

''Nothing could be fairer, conld it? You will all 
agree that it would have been impossible to intro- 



176 LATEST MAGIC 

cluce anything into the innermost of those three 
envelopes without breaking all three seals. When 
I say impossible, of course I mean impossible to a 
mere man. To a magician there is no such word as 
impossible, except in the dictionary. In fact, the 
more impossible a thing is, the more any respect- 
able magician makes up his mind to do it. Watch 
me carefully, please. I want you to be quite sure 
all through that there is no deception. 

"Now then, to pass the coin into this other envel- 
ope. ' ' As you say this, you pick up the coin mat, 
depress it enough for all present to see the coin 
upon it, and make the motion of sliding it off into 
the left hand. This should be done while standing 
a little in front of your table. In turning to 
replace the mat, reverse it and lay it with the side 
to which the coin adheres downwards. If deftly 
executed, this reversal of the mat will be imper- 
ceptible, as it is covered by the turn to the table. 
Even if it were noticed it would have practically no 
significance for the spectators, who naturally take 
it for granted that the coin has passed from the 
mat into your hand. The moment you have laid 
down the mat, the now disengaged hand picks up 
the nest of envelopes, and you make believe to rub 
the coin (supposedly in left hand) into it. This 
done, you hold the envelope aloft in each hand 
alternately, allowing it to be seen that the hands 
are otherwise empty. 

* ' So far, so good ! The coin has passed from my 



THE MYSTERY OF THE THEEE SEALS 177 

hands into the innermost envelope. But I don't 
expect you to take my word for it. Will you, sir" 
(any given spectator) "open the outermost envel- 
ope, first, however, satisfying yourself that it is still 
securely sealed % ' ' 

It is just possible, though not very likely, that 
the person to whom the envelope and penknife have 
been handed may notice, and remark audibly, that 
he cannot feel any coin in the envelope. If such a 
remark is made, you reply that the coin naturally 
had to be de-materialised before it could pass into 
the envelope, and it will take a few minutes for it 
to re-materialise, but it will become gradually more 
solid, and will then be distinctly perceptible. 

The outer envelope having been opened you take 
back its contents, and under pretext of getting as 
many witnesses as possible to fair play, have the 
next envelope opened by a second person, seated 
at some little distance from the lender of the shill- 
ing. The last named gentleman is invited himself 
to open the last envelope, or rather, the trick envel- 
ope, which you in transit substitute for it. Having 
already opened a precisely similar envelope, and 
found it securely fastened, he is not likely to antici- 
pate anything different about this one. If he uses 
the penknife and cuts it open along the edge of 
the flap in the usual way he will naturally hold it 
with the thumb upon the seal and all will be well. 
As a rule, he will be more concerned to identify the 
coin as the one he lent than to seek for any sus- 



178 LATEST MAGIC 

picious feature about the envelope. Even in the 
unlikely case of his tearing open the envelope, 
instead of cutting it, it is doubtful whether he 
would detect the use of the seccotine, which should 
by this time be practically dry ; and by the rest of 
the spectators it would still be taken for granted 
that this envelope, like the rest, was sealed in the 
ordinary way. 

It will be obvious to the expert reader that the 
central idea, viz., the transformation by the use 
of seccotine of an open envelope into one appar- 
ently sealed in the regular way, is one that admits 
of a wide variety of detail as to the mode of pres- 
entation. For instance: The procedure sug- 
gested for getting rid of the duplicate coin, and 
apparently rubbing it into the envelope, is but one 
of many alternatives. The coin might be 
"passed" by the agency of fire, i.e., wrapped in a 
piece of flash paper with open fold at bottom and 
flared off at the psychological moment over a candle 
flame) , or it might be got rid of by vanishing it into 
the pocket of a black art mat, or by the use of a 
black art patch, as described at page 20. 

The critical part of the trick is the "switching" 
of the two envelopes at the final stage, but in view 
of their small size this is a matter of very little 
difficulty. The expert will probably do this after 
some fashion of his own. The less instructed 
reader may use the following plan, which he will 



THE MYSTERY OF THE THREE SEALS 179 

find by no means difficult of execution, though it 
will need some little practice to work it neatly. 

While the second envelope is being opened, get 
the trick envelope from the pochette into the right 
hand, clipping it against the second and third joints 
of the second and third fingers, with the "seal" 
side turned away from them. When the genuine 
envelope is handed to you receive it with the left 
hand, and immediately transfer it to the right, 
pushing it between the fingers and the palmed one, 
with the seal facing in the same direction. The 
moment it is masked by the fingers push the trick 
envelope outward with the thumb, bringing this 
into view in its place. Smartly executed the 
change is instantaneous and cannot possibly be 
detected. The apparent object of passing it from 
hand to hand is to have the left hand empty and 
so free to take back the penknife from the last 
holder. From this point all will be easy, as it 
is the trick envelope which is now alone in view, 
and all you have to guard against is any accidental 
exposure of the one now hidden in the hand. 

This description may justly appear somewhat 
long-winded, but its length is occasioned by the 
number of small details demanding notice. In 
performance, the trick should not take, at most, 
more than ten minutes. The introductory patter 
may of course be shortened at pleasure. 



180 LATEST MAGIC 

THE WIZARD'S POCKETBOOK 

This is an extremely small volume, consisting 
in fact of six pages only, and no letterpress, the 
instructions for its use being embodied in a sepa- 
rate leaflet. On each of its pages are miniature 
reproductions of thirty-six playing cards, six in a 
row ; every card of the pack being represented once 
at least among the whole number. The object of 
the book is to enable the owner to discover the 
name of a card drawn (or merely thought of) by 
some member of the company. The chooser is 
only asked to look at the book, and state on which 
one or more of its pages the card in question 
appears, when the performer, without seeing or 
handling the book himself, can instantly name the 
card. The six pages of the book are reproduced 
in the diagrams which follow. Figs 37-42. 

To be in a position to work the trick, it is neces- 
sary in the first place to memorise each of the fifty- 
two cards of the pack in connection with a particu- 
lar number. This may at first sight appear a for- 
midable undertaking, but it is not so in reality. 

All that really needs to be memorised is the order 
of the suits ; which is as under : 

' 1. Clubs. 

2. Hearts. 

3. Spades. 

4. Diamonds. 

This order may be instantly recalled by using as 



THE WIZARD'S POCKETBOOK 



181 



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182 



LATEST MAGIC 



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184 



LATEST MAGIC 



a memory-peg the word CH&SeD, which contains 
the initials of the four suits in the proper order, or 
the reader may if he prefers it recall them by 
reflecting that 

Cool Heads Soon Decide. 

The arrangement of each suit follows the natural 
order, the ace of clubs being No. 1 ; the deuce 2 ; 
and the trey 3; knave 11; queen 12 and king 13. 
The card next following, viz., the ace of hearts, will 
be 14 ; the deuce of hearts 15, and so on, the com- 
plete arrangement being as shown below : 



1. Ace of clubs. 

2. Deuce of clubs. 

3. Trey of clubs. 

4. Four of clubs. 

5. Five of clubs. 

6. Six of clubs. 

7. Seven of clubs. 

8. Eight of clubs. 

9. Nine of clubs. 

10. Ten of clubs. 

11. Knave of clubs. 

12. Queen of clubs. 

13. King of clubs. 

14. Ace of hearts. 

15. Deuce of hearts. 

16. Trey of hearts. 

17. Four of hearts. 

18. Five of hearts. 

19. Six of hearts. 

20. Seven of hearts. 

21. Bight of hearts. 



22. Nine of hearts. 

23. Ten of hearts. 

24. Knave of hearts. 

25. Queen of hearts. 

26. King of hearts. 

27. Ace of spades. 

28. Deuce of spades. 

29. Trey of spades. 

30. Four of spades. 

31. Five of spades. 

32. Six of spades. 

33. Seven of spades. 

34. Eight of spades. 

35. Nine of spades. 

36. Ten of spades. 

37. Knave of spades. 

38. Queen of spades. 

39. King of spades. 

40. Ace of diamonds. 

41. Deuce of diamonds. 

42. Trey of diamonds. 



THE WIZARD'S POCKETBOOK 185 

43. Four of diamonds. 48. Nine of diamonds. 

44. Five of diamonds. 49. Ten of diamonds. 

45. Six of diamonds. 50. Knave of diamonds. 

46. Seven of diamonds. 51. Queen of diamonds. 

47. Eight of diamonds. 52. King of diamonds. 

The arrangement of the table being once under- 
stood, the number associated with any given card 
in the club suit suggests itself automatically, e.g., 
the seven of clubs is likewise No. 7 in the list. To 
ascertain the name of the card corresponding to 
any of the higher numbers, all that is needed is to 
subtract from that number 13, or such higher mul- 
tiple of thirteen as the case will admit, and the 
difference will represent its position in its own 
suit. 

Suppose, for instance, that the performer desires 
to know what card answers to the number 20. 
Deducting thirteen from 20, the remainder, 7, tells 
him that the card is the seventh (i.e. the seven) 
of the second suit, viz., hearts. If he wants to 
know the name of No. 29, he deducts 26, when the 
remainder, 3, tells him that the card is the three of 
the third suit, spades. If the card be No. 40, the 
number to be deducted will be 39, and the 
remainder, 1, tells him that the card is the first 
of the fourth suit, viz., the ace of diamonds. After 
a very few trials, this little exercise in mental 
arithmetic becomes so familiar that the calculation 
becomes practically instantaneous. 

Going a step further ; with each of the six pages 



186 



LATEST MAGIC 



of the pocket-book is associated a special number, 
known as its "key" number. These are as under: 



'age 1 


Key Number 1 


" 2 


2 


" 3 


4 


" 4 


8 


" 5 


16 


" 6 


32 



The memorising of these is also a very simple 
matter, for it will be noted that the key numbers 
are the first six factors of the familiar geometrical 
progression, 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32. Printed as below: 



1, 2. 3, 4, 



6 



1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 



the upper figures, in ordinary type, expressing the 
numbers of the pages, and the lower, in black type, 
the corresponding key numbers, a very small 
amount of study will associate them so closely in 
the mind as to fix them firmly in the memory. 

Having mastered these two simple lessons, the 
learner is in a position to use the pocket-book. To 
ascertain the card chosen, he has only to add 
together the key numbers of the pages in which 
he is told that such card appears. The total will 
be the number at which that card stands in the list 
given on page 185, and, this being known, it be- 
comes an easy matter to name the card itself. 

We will suppose, for instance, that performer 



the wizard's pocketbook 187 

is told that the chosen card appears on the second 
page, and no other. The key number of this page 
being 2, the card must be the second in the list, viz., 
the deuce of clubs. If he is told that the chosen 
card is to be found on pages 1, 3 and 6 : the key num- 
ber of these three pages being 1, 4 and 32 : together 
making 37, and thirty-seven less twenty-six being 
eleven, he knows that the card must be the eleventh 
of the third suit, otherwise the knave of spades. 
If he is told that the card is on the third, fifth and 
sixth pages, the key numbers of which are 4, 16 and 
32, total 52, it is clear that the card must be the 
last in the list, viz., the king of diamonds. 

So much for the working of the trick. But the 
reader, if of an enquiring mind, will naturally ask, 
"How is this result obtained?" The answer rests 
upon a special property of the geometrical pro- 
gression which forms the six key numbers. It is 
a curious fact that by the use of these six numbers, 
either singly or in combination with others of the 
series, any number, from unity up to 63, can be 
expressed. Thus, the numbers, 1, 2, 4, 8, 16 and 
32 we already have, these being numbers of the 
series. As to other numbers : 

1 + 2 = 3 

4+1 = 5 
4 + 2 = 6 
4 + 2 + 1 = 7 
8 + 1 = 9 



188 LATEST MAGIC 

8 + 2 = 10 

8 + 2 + 1 =11 

8 + 4 = 12 

8 + 4+1 =13 

and so on throughout up to 52, which being the 
limit of the pack, is the highest number with which 
we need concern ourselves. 

In making up the pages of the pocket-book, 
advantage has been taken of this principle. A 
given card is inserted on that page or pages (and 
those only) whose key numbers, alone or added 
together, correspond with the position which the 
card holds in the list. Thus the ace of clubs 
will appear on the first page (not because it is the 
first card, but because the key number of that page 
is 1) and on no other. The deuce of clubs, in like 
manner, on page 2, the key number of that card 
being two. The next card, the three of clubs, must 
appear on page 1 and page 2, their key numbers 
together amounting to 3. The process as to cards 
standing at higher numbers is the same. Thus, the 
ace of spades, being the twenty-seventh card, and 
twenty-seven being the aggregate of 16, 8, 2 and 1, 
will appear on the first, second, fourth and fifth 
pages. Conversely, if the performer is told that 
the card appears on the four pages last named, he 
knows that it is the twenty-seventh card, i.e., the 
ace of spades. Any spaces remaining vacant on 
the page after the whole pack has been dealt with, 
are filled up by duplicates of cards already figur- 



the wizard's pocketbooe: 189 

ing on the same page, their appearing under these 
conditions making no difference to the calculation. 

I am indebted to an ingenious amateur, Mr. 
Victor Farrelly, for the idea of a novel method of 
using the pocket-book. Mr. Farrelly does not 
offer of his own accord to show what can be done 
with it, but keeps it in reserve, for use in a special 
emergency. Every conjurer meets now and then 
with the pig-headed person who absolutely declines 
to have a given card forced upon him, and persists 
in endeavouring to extract one from some other 
part of the pack. Armed with the pocket-book, the 
performer can set such a person at defiance, and 
indeed get additional kudos from his objectionable 
behaviour. 

He cheerfully gives up the struggle, saying "You 
seem to think, sir, that I wish to influence your 
choice in some way. To prove the contrary, I give 
the pack into your own hands. Shuffle it well. 
Thank you. Now take from it any card you please. 
Look at it, and put it in your pocket. You are 
satisfied, I presume, that I do not know that card % 
You are quite right. I have not the smallest idea 
of it, but I shall discover it without the smallest 
difficulty by a process of mathematical magic. I 
have here" (producing pocket-book) "a little book 
of six pages, on each of which thirty-six cards are 
illustrated. Will you kindly see whether the card 
you chose is represented among those on the first 
page? Meanwhile I will divide the pack, which 



190 LATEST MAGIC 

please remember I have not touched since you 
shuffled it yourself, into six portions, one for each 
page of the book." This is done, the six packets 
being turned face down on the table. 

We will suppose that the chosen card is not found 
on the first page. "Then," says the performer, 
"this first packet will tell me nothing, and may be 
disregarded. Now, for the second page, is your 
card upon that? It is? Then I draw two cards 
from the second heap, and turn up one of them. 
And now for the third page. Do you find your 
card there % You do % Then I take up three cards 
from the third packet, and again turn up the last 
one. ' ' 

We will suppose that the chosen card is not found 
in either the fourth or the fifth page, but re-appears 
on the sixth, whereupon six cards are counted off 
from the corresponding packet, and the last of 
them turned up. The performer has by this time 
mentally added up the key numbers of the second, 
third and sixth pages: viz., 2, 4 and 32, together 
making 38, and knows therefrom that the card is 
the thirty-eighth in the list, viz., the queen of 
spades. He does not however at once display his 
knowledge, but pretends to make a mental calcula- 
tion from the cards exposed upon the table, giving, 
if he so pleases, and the cards lend themselves to 
it, some fanciful explanation of his method. It 
seems to me, however, that this last is a needless 
elaboration. Personally, I should prefer merely 



the wizard's pocketbook 191 

to call attention by name to the cards exposed, and 
say, "When these three cards appear in conjunc- 
tion, it is clear that the card drawn was the queen 
of spades" (or whatever it may happen to be). 
Any one deluded, as the majority will probably be, 
into believing that you really infer the name of the 
drawn card from those on the table, will be farther 
from the real solution than ever. 



CONCERNING PATTER 

It will doubtless have been observed that I have 
m the foregoing pages been somewhat lavish in 
respect of patter. I have done so for two or three 
reasons. 

First, in order to enable the reader to form a 
better estimate of the effect of the trick presented, 
duly clothed and coloured, to the mind of the spec- 
tator. A trick described, however minutely, from 
the mere mechanical or technical point of view, 
gives scarcely more idea of its actual effect than 
the rough charcoal sketch of the artist does of the 
finished painting. Secondly, because ready-made 
patter, if the reader cares to use it, will save him a 
considerable amount of trouble. My third reason 
is more personal, namely, that it has been a labour 
of love to do so. To my mind the devising of some 
little bit of appropriate fiction to serve as intro- 
duction to a trick is the pleasantest part of the 
inventor's work. 

It may perhaps be thought that I have, in some 
of the more ambitious tricks, been overliberal in 
this particular. I remember thinking, after wit- 
nessing a "show" by Dr. Lynn, a popular per- 
former of the last generation, that he had talked a 

192 



CONCERNING PATTER 193 

great deal, and done very little, and that I had had 
very little real magic for my money. On the other 
hand, the loquacious doctor was always amusing, 
and it must not be forgotten that to amuse, even 
more than to puzzle, is the raison d'etre of the mod- 
ern magician. It seems to me therefore quite 
legitimate to use, to a reasonable extent, the art 
of the raconteur to supplement that of the 
magician. 

If my own patter is in some cases found super- 
abundant, I have at any rate done my best to make 
it amusing, and if the reader opines that I have not 
paid sufficient regard to the late Mr. Ducrow's cele- 
brated maxim, "Cut the cackle, and come to the 
'osses," he is quite at liberty to cut my cackle to 
what he may consider more reasonable proportions. 
No doubt, time would be saved thereby. If, for 
instance, he were to cut out the little romantic 
fictions with which I have introduced ' ' The Miracle 
of Mumbo Jumbo" and "The Story of the Alka- 
hest," and start "right away" with the bare per- 
formance of the trick, both could be exhibited in 
little more time than I have allotted to either alone. 
Which treatment is likely to give the greater satis- 
faction to his audience, he must decide for himself. 

"Where the performer has the gift (for a "gift" 
it undoubtedly is) of devising effective patter for 
himself I am strongly in favour of his doing so. 
Borrowed patter may be likened to a borrowed 
dress-coat. It is never likely to be an exact fit, and 



194 LATEST MAGIC 

a " giant's robe upon a dwarfish thief," or the 
reverse, cannot be expected to be a becoming gar- 
ment. Every man has, or should have, a style of 
his own, and it is rarely good policy to imitate that 
of somebody else. If a low comedy man were to 
essay to play Hamlet, or a tragedian, however 
eminent, were to try to give an imitation of Harry 
Lauder, the result would be likely to be disappoint- 
ing. 

_ The reader, undertaking to write his own patter, 
and desirous of making it just what patter should 
be, will find counsels of perfection in "Our Magic," 
and the more nearly he can approach them the 
better. As, however, all have not the good fortune 
to possess that admirable work, I venture to indi- 
cate what to my own mind seem to be the chief 
points to be aimed at. 

It is almost a commonplace to say that the main 
object of patter is misdirection. As the term is 
more usually applied, this means something said or 
done midway in the course of a trick to draw away 
the attention of the audience at some critical 
moment, and to create what the French conjurers 
call a "temps/' i.e., an "opportunity" for doing, 
unnoticed, some necessary act. But misdirection 
may very well start at an earlier stage than this: 
in fact, well in advance of the actual execution of 
the trick. Each trick should have some sort of 
introduction, and the patter serving this purpose 
should be such as to lead the mind of the hearer 



CONCERNING PATTER 195 

away from the true explanation of the marvel, and 
to suggest, in a more or less plausible way, some 
other, remote from the real one. 

The suggested explanation may be either pseudo- 
scientific, where possible based on some generally 
accepted truth (and it is surprising what a long 
way even a few grains of truth go in such cases) ; or 
it may be downright "spoof," delivered however 
with due appearance of seriousness. The explana- 
tions will naturally fall a good deal short of the 
George Washington standard of truthfulness, but 
the most tender conscience need not in such a case 
have any scruples on the score of veracity. No 
sane person expects truth in a fairy tale, and a 
magical entertainment, from beginning to end, is 
but a fairy tale in action. To put the matter in an 
epigrammatic nutshell : 

Truth is "a gem of purest ray serene," 

A virtue always to be cultivated, 
But such depends, — you'll gather what I mean, — 

On how you happen to be situated. 
At home, abroad, wherever I may be, 

I tell the honest truth, and shame the d . 

But when you ask to be deceived. Good gracious ! 

You can't expect me then to be veracious. 
In that case only do I make exception, 

And most deceive when vowing "no deception." 

This function of patter, the leading away the 
minds of the audience from the true explanation of 
the puzzle offered them, may be materially assisted 



196 LATEST MAGIC 

by the introduction, among the ''properties" used, 
of some object professedly essential to the trick, 
but as a matter of fact having no real concern with 
the effect produced. The audience take for 
granted that it must have something to do with the 
effect, or it would not be used, and are thereby led 
away the more effectually from the actual explana- 
tion. Numerous illustrations of the use of this 
device will be found in the foregoing pages. 

If, in the case of a given trick, the performer 
is absolutely at a loss to produce a satisfactory 
fable to introduce it, he may evade the difficulty 
by stating that he is about to produce an effect for 
which he cannot himself account, and inviting the 
assistance of his audience in doing so. 

The second function of patter is the calling of 
the attention of the audience to matters which you 
desire them to take note of, and to give oppor- 
tunity to do so. There is small credit to be gained 
by changing the ace of clubs into the ace of hearts, 
or making a given article pass invisibly from one 
spot to another, unless the spectators have been 
first made to realise the original state of things, and 
they must be allowed sufficient time to do so. I 
have more than once seen an otherwise brilliant 
show spoilt by being rushed through at railroad 
speed. The mind of the spectator had not been 
allowed time to receive clear impressions. The 
company in such a case disperses with a conscious- 
ness of having had a rapid succession of surprises, 



CONCERNING PATTER 197 

but with only a cloudy recollection as to what they 
were. 

In devising, as is sometimes desirable, new patter 
for an old trick, an endeavour should be made to 
look at the effect from an entirely fresh point of 
view, so as to make the trick practically a new one. 
A remarkable instance of such a transformation is 
furnished by an incident in the life of Robert- 
Houdin. At one period of his career he was 
entrusted by the French Government with a very 
important mission. He w T as sent to Algeria, spe- 
cially charged to " astonish the natives," and by 
his greater wonders to destroy their belief in the 
pretended miracles of the Aissoua. 

Among other surprises, he decided to make use 
of his "Light and Heavy Chest," a chest which, as 
the reader is doubtless aware, became at command, 
by means of an electro-magnet in the pedestal on 
which it rested, so "heavy" that the strongest man 
could not lift it from its base. This trick, pro- 
duced at a time when the phenomena of electricity 
were but little understood, has produced an 
immense sensation at his Paris performances. 
But the Master instinctively felt that the trick in 
that shape would produce little or no effect on the 
more primitive mind of the Arab. He would sim- 
ply have taken for granted some mechanical means 
of holding down the chest, beyond his own com- 
prehension, no doubt, but by no means to be 
regarded as miraculous. Robert-Houdin decided 



198 LATEST MAGIC 

to change the mode of presentation altogether, and 
to make the illusion no longer objective, but subjec- 
tive. He announced that by means of his magic 
power he could take away the strength of the 
strongest man, and render him weak as a little 
child. The "chest" was in this case merely 
brought forward in a casual way, as a convenient 
object wherewith the assertion of the magician 
could be tested. The strongest man in the com- 
pany was invited to come forward, and try whether 
he could lift that little box. Of course he could, 
and did; a child could have done the same. "You 
lifted it because I permitted you to do jso, ' ' said the 
magician. * 'But I take away your strength. Try 
to lift it now ! ' ' 

Again the athlete tries his strength, but now he 
fails. With teeth set, and every muscle tense, he 
strains, and strains, but in vain, and he has to con- 
fess that the infidel wonder-worker has, for the 
time, taken away all his strength. Here was a 
wizard indeed ! 

In arranging your patter, be humorous if you 
can, but if, like the gentleman we have all heard 
of, you "joke with difficulty," don't force yourself 
to be funny. That it is possible for a man lacking 
humour still to be a great conjurer is proved by 
the case of Hartz, who was notably deficient in this 
particular, but by his excellence in other directions 
won a place in the very first rank of his profession. 
But if you cannot be humorous, at any rate be 



CONCERNING PATTER 199 

cheerful. Geniality of manner is one of the most 
valuable assets of the conjurer. Above all, don't 
be nervous. You may say "I can't help it," but to 
a great extent you can. It is largely a matter of 
will. Start with the idea that all will go well, and 
it will probably do so. On the other hand, a low- 
spirited conjurer always makes a low spirited 
audience. 

In any case, be sparing of puns, which have been 
deservedly described as the lowest form of wit. A 
single pun, if good enough (or bad enough) may 
win a laugh, and score to your credit, but to pep- 
per an audience with verbal shrapnel in the shape 
of puns is an outrage on good taste. 

Passing to the third function of patter, the mis- 
direction of attention in the course of a trick, we 
will assume that you have made a start in the right 
direction at the outset, by suggesting some fanciful 
explanation of the effect you intend to produce, so 
that your audience, starting from wrong premises, 
do not know the points at which their too close 
observation would be inconvenient. The best way 
of diverting their attention at one of these critical 
points is obviously to attract it to some other direc- 
tion. A mere sentence, particularly if accom- 
panied by appropriate action, will suffice. Sup- 
posing, to take an elementary instance, that the 
performer desires to drop unseen into the profonde 
from his left hand some small article for which he 
has just deftly substituted a duplicate, now exhib- 



200 LATEST MAGIC 

ited in the right hand, he has only to say, "Now I 
want you particularly to keep an eye on this" — 
whatever the article in the right hand may happen 
to be. All eyes are for the moment, instinctively 
drawn to the object in question, and in that moment 
the deed is done. The artifice is ridiculously sim- 
ple, but it is effective, and it is on being fully pre- 
pared with the right thing to say and do at the crit- 
ical moment that the success of a magical enter- 
tainment largely depends. Careful rehearsal, pre- 
ferably before an expert friend, will furnish the 
best hints as to the danger-spots in the working 
of a trick, and how best to devise patter to meet 
them. 

A final word of advice — advice that has been often 
given, but cannot be too often repeated if you 
really aim to carry your audience with you. Never 
lose sight of the fact that you are, in the words of 
Robert-Houdin, "an actor playing the part of a 
magician, ' ' and take your office seriously. In par- 
ticular, never before an audience use the word 
"trick," which at once gives away all your preten- 
sion to magical power. An actor never tells his 
audience that he is an actor or that he is playing a 
part. He does not call their attention to his 
make-up, however excellent, or tell them that his 
wig comes from Clarkson. On the contrary, he 
does his best to make his audience for the time for- 
get that he is Hubert de Barnstormer, or whatever 
his stage name may be, and to keep up the illusion 



CONCERNING PATTER 201 

that he is actually the person whom he represents. 
The modern magician should do the same. If he 
has enough of the true artistic spirit to imagine, 
when he steps forward on the platform, that he is 
a magician, and that his miracles are genuine, he 
will go a long way towards producing a like impres- 
sion in the minds of his audience. Bearing this in 
mind, describe what you propose to do as an 
" effect," a "marvel," an " experiment, " or a 
" phenomenon"; never by any chance as a "trick." 

It may be objected that I have myself repeatedly 
used the obnoxious word in the course of the fore- 
going pages, but that is another matter. This 
book is written by a conjurer for conjurers : and as 
between ourselves we are forced to admit, painful 
though it be to do so, that our greatest miracles are 
only tricks. But we need not tell the public so. 
Logically-minded, persons know it well enough, if 
they are allowed to think about the matter. Our 
business is to make them, for the time, forget it. 
A wise old Roman said: Populus vult decipi: 
decipiatur. Your audience wish to be deceived ; in 
fact they have come together for that purpose. By 
all means let them be deceived to the top of their 
bent ; and the first step towards effectually deceiv- 
ing them, is to persuade them, if possible, that there 
is "no deception." 

The patter for a given trick, once composed, and 
tested by a few performances in public, may 
thenceforth, so far as the professional is concerned, 



202 LATEST MAGIC 

be left to take care of itself. It should auto- 
matically improve with each of its earlier repeti- 
tions as good wine improves in bottle. Faults will 
correct themselves, and being made perfect by 
practice, the performer will thenceforth be able to 
u speak his piece" without effort, and devote his 
whole energies to the actual working of the trick. 
To the amateur, only performing on special occa- 
sions, with perhaps considerable intervals between 
them, I commend a plan from which I myself 
derived great benefit, viz. : Write out from 
memory the patter for each trick on the pro- 
gramme a day or two before a coming performance. 
After you have given your show, go through your 
manuscript again carefully, noting and correcting 
it in any point in which the patter failed to be ex- 
actly right. The interpolation of a single sen- 
tence, the transposition in point of sequence of two 
movements, or the alteration of some trifling detail, 
such as standing at a different angle to your table 
at a given moment, may make all the difference be- 
tween partial failure and complete success. 



THE USE OF THE WAND 

Closely connected with the subject of patter is 
the use of the wand, which in my wn opinion can- 
not be too sedulously cultivated. To the cases in 
which the wand itself forms the prominent item 
of the trick, I devoted a special chapter in "Later 
Magic." To these therefore I need not further 
refer. More important, however, is the part 
played by the wand from the point of view of gen- 
eral utility. 

In the first place, it is the only remnant, of the 
traditional outfit of the magician. Time was, 
when the regulation costume of the wizard was a 
sugarloaf hat, and a robe embroidered with highly 
coloured mystic symbols. Such a robe is still worn 
as part of their make-up, by Chung Ling Soo and 
a few other Orientals, but the orthodox costume of 
the latter-day wizard is ordinary evening dress. 
The wand alone remains ; the symbol and the pro- 
fessed instrument of his mystic powers, and from 
its traditional connection with magic, there is a 
special prestige attached to it. 

For these reasons alone it would be desirable to 
retain the use of the wand, but apart from them, 
its practical uses are many and various. One of 

203 



204 LATEST MAGIC 

the first difficulties of the novice, as he comes for- 
ward to introduce himself to his audience, is to 
know what to do with his hands. He can hardly 
advance with hand on heart, within his vest, a la 
Pecksniff. Held open, with arms hanging down 
by the sides, the hands look too stiff, and to advance 
with them in his pockets would hardly be good 
form. By coming forward wand in hand, he 
avoids these difficulties. The hand holding it auto- 
matically assumes an easy and natural position, 
and he ceases to think about the other. With the 
wand held in the right hand across the body, its 
free end resting on the palm of the opposite hand, 
he is in an ideal attitude for delivering his intro- 
ductory patter. Later on, by holding the wand in 
the hand, he effectually disguises the fact that he 
has some object, a card, a coin, or a watch con- 
cealed therein. If he has occasion to call atten- 
tion directly to any object, the wand forms the most 
natural pointer. If he finds it necessary, for some 
reason connected with the trick in hand, to make 
a turn or half -turn away from the spectators, the 
fact that he has left his wand upon the table affords 
him the needful opportunity. 

Lastly, if the wand is habitually used as the pro- 
fessed instrument of a desired transposition or 
transformation, a certain portion of an average 
audience gradually becomes impressed with the 
idea that there really must be some occult connec- 
tion between the touch of the wand and the effect 



THE USE OF THE WAND 205 

produced. There is much virtue in what may be 
called a magical atmosphere, and after the wizard 
has proved his magical power by performing two 
or three apparent impossibilities, the mind of the 
spectator (though in his calmer moments, he 
knows, or should know, better) , is led to adopt in a 
greater or less degree the solution l 'forced" upon 
him by the conjurer. Habitual use of the wand, 
with apparent seriousness, goes far to create the 
desired atmosphere. 

A good effect may be produced by " electrifying" 
the wand now and then, by rubbing it with a hand- 
kerchief. The main uses of electricity are so 
widely known, and so little understood by the mil- 
lion, that they are quite ready to give it credit for 
still more marvellous possibilities. 

My friend Mr. Holt Schooling, mentioned in 
connection with The Secret of the Pyramids, finds 
an additional use for the wand. He uses, not one 
only, but half a dozen, of different appearance, each 
credited with some special magical virtue. At the 
outset of his show these are arranged horizontally, 
one above another on pins projecting from a small 
sloping blackboard. For each fresh trick the 
wand professedly appropriate to it is brought into 
action, the one last used being at the same time 
replaced on the stand. The spectators do not sus- 
pect that behind each top corner of the board is a 
small servante, enabling the performer, under 
cover of the change of wands, to change a pack of 



206 LATEST MAGIC 

cards, or to effect some other substitution neces- 
sary for the purpose of his next item. 

Verbum sap, by all means cultivate the use of the 
wand, and for the sake of effect, let it be of an ele- 
gant and distinctive character. An office-ruler or 
a piece of cane would serve many of its mechanical 
purposes, but would lack the prestige attached to 
what is, professedly, the genuine article. 

One of the most striking proofs of the extensive 
use and appreciation of the wand by modern 
magicians is furnished by the remarkable collec- 
tion of such implements got together by Dr. Saram 
R. Ellison, of New York. 

Dr. Ellison * is an eminent and popular phy- 
sician, whose ruling passion is wanting to know 
things, particularly things that other people don't 
know. Such being his temperament, it goes almost 
without saying that at an early period of his 
career he became a Freemason. Having been duly 
initiated into the mysteries of the ordinary lodge, 
and learnt all it had to teach him, he still yearned 
for "more light," and accordingly worked his way 
up step by step through intervening degrees in 
masonry till he reached what is known as the 
thirty-third degree, an order even more exclusive 
than that of the Garter, and claiming to possess 
secrets as to which the ordinary "blue" mason, 

i Since this was written Dr. Ellison has passed into the mysterious 
beyond. 



THE USE OF THE WAND 207 

even though he be a Past Grand Everything, knows 
no more than the veriest outsider. 

When in this direction there were no more mys- 
teries left for him to conquer, Dr. Ellison natur- 
ally turned his attention to Magic : and in accord- 
ance with his habitual determination to know all 
that there is to be known with regard to his hobby 
for the time being he began to collect books upon 
the subject. At first there were but few to collect, 
but the literature of magic has grown, and grown, 
and side by side with its advance Dr. Ellison's col- 
lection has grown larger and larger till it numbers 
some hundreds of volumes. Harry Kellar, the 
dean of American magicians, and himself an 
enthusiastic collector, yearned to possess it, and 
offered the doctor for it the handsome sum of two 
thousand dollars, equivalent in English money to 
about four hundred pounds. But Dr. Ellison was 
not to be tempted. In order that the collection 
should be preserved intact, he donated it, some 
years ago, to the New York Public Library, also 
providing a fund for its upkeep and further devel- 
opment. 

But Dr. Ellison's interest in, and services to 
Magic did not end here. He has made a collection 
of models, entirely the work of his own hands, of 
the appliances for over sixty stage illusions. 
Some are of full size, others quite miniature 
affairs, but one and all exact to scale. Further, the 
doctor has a special affection for souvenirs of 



208 LATEST MAGIC 

famous magicians, past and present, especially in 
the shape of wands, as being the most characteristic 
possession of the wizard. Accordingly, some 
years ago, he began to collect wands, and he now 
possesses more than eighty such, each a wand which 
has been habitually yielded by some more or less 
famous magician. By the courtesy of Dr. Ellison 

I am enabled to furnish particulars of some of 
them; as given in a very interesting pamphlet by 
Epes W. Sargent, a well-known American writer. 

The catalogue commences with a wand formerly 
belonging to Professor Anderson, the once famous 

I I Wizard of the North. ' ' Here are found also the 
wands used by the two Herrmanns (Carl and 
Alexander), Buatier de Kolta, Lafayette, Martin 
Chapender, Carl Willmann and others who tread 
the stage no more. As regards the living, there is 
here a memento of nearly every English-speaking 
conjurer of note : besides many others of cosmopol- 
itan celebrity. 

The wand here exhibited is not always the con- 
ventional ebony and ivory affair, some of the speci- 
mens being indeed of a highly original character. 
For instance, the wand contributed by a Hindu 
magician consists of the leg bone of a sacred mon- 
key from the temple of Hanuman, the monkey 
god, at Benares. The wands of Madame Adelaide 
Herrmann and Chung Ling Soo take the shape of 
fans. Horace Groldin's is a cut-down whip-handle, 
and those of Clement de Lion and Imro Fox are 



THE USE OF THE WAND 209 

portions of one-while walking-sticks, promoted to 
a nobler use. Mr. J. N. Maskelyne's "wand" is 
an ordinary file, which, from the inventor point of 
view, he regards as the greatest of wonder-work- 
ing appliances. 

My own contribution may claim to be of excep- 
tional interest, not merely as being in itself a curio, 
but as a memento of a very remarkable man, so 
remarkable, indeed, that a brief notice of his career 
may be interesting. It was presented to me by 
Professor Palmer, a gentleman who was not, like 
myself, a bogus professor, but the real thing, and 
withal an exceptionally eminent man. Skill in 
sleight-of-hand was the least of his accomplish- 
ments. He had a marvellous gift of tongue, there 
being scarcely a European or Oriental language 
with which he was not thoroughly familiar. He 
was born at Cambridge in 1840, and from his 
earliest years showed indications of his peculiar 
gift for acquiring languages. As a school-boy he 
made friends among the gipsies, and learned to 
speak their queer language so perfectly as to 
deceive even those to whom it was their native 
tongue. In later life it was a favourite joke of his 
to saunter, in company with his equally accom- 
plished friend, Leland, into some gipsy encamp- 
ment where they were not known, and after pay- 
ing their footing by having their fortunes told, 
to ask some of the nomads gathered round the fire, 
to talk a little Rommany for their benefit. Gip- 



210 LATEST MAGIC 

sies are chary of speaking Rommany except 
among their own people, and the inquisitive strang- 
ers were frequently told that there was no such 
language; whereupon, one of them would turn to 
the other, and in purest Rommany quietly express 
an opinion that their temporary hosts were not 
thorough-bred gipsies, but of some inferior stock. 
This produced Rommany in plenty, and the visi- 
tors were energetically taken to task for that, 
being themselves gipsies, they should ape the dress 
and manners of the G-orgio. A friendly explana- 
tion made all end happily. 

Palmer made his first start in life as a clerk in 
the City of London, where in his spare time he 
made himself master of French and Italian. A 
little later he took up the study of Persian, Arabic 
and Hindustani, and speedily conquered them. 
In 1867, after taking his degree at the University 
of Cambridge, he was elected a Fellow by his Col- 
lege, an honour conferred on him in recognition of 
his mastery of the Oriental languages. During 
the years 1868-1870 he was employed on behalf of 
the Palestine Exploration Fund, to make a survey 
of Mount Sinai, in the course of which he became 
upon friendly and indeed almost brotherly terms 
with many of the wild Arab tribes, among whom 
he was known as the Sheikh Abdullah. As in Eng- 
land he had been made free of the gipsy tent, so in 
Palestine he could drop in upon many a Bedouin 
encampment, and be sure of a hearty welcome. 



THE USE OF THE WAND 211 

His skill in sleight-of-hand, which he had in the 
first instance taken up merely as a pastime, proved 
to be of immense service to him in his desert wan- 
derings ; adding not only to his popularity but fre- 
quently gaining for him the prestige of a genuine 
magician, and thereby increasing his influence. 

In 1871 he was appointed to the professorship of 
Oriental languages at Cambridge, his official title 
being the Lord High Almoner's Reader of Arabic. 
In 1882, in anticipation of the Arabi trouble in 
Egypt, he was entrusted by the then Government 
with the difficult and dangerous task of winning 
over the Sinaitic tribes, and preventing the threat- 
ened destruction of the Suez Canal. 

His first trip, extending from Gaza to Suez, was 
carried out successfully, but on penetrating farther 
into the desert, he and his two companions,. Captain 
Gill, R.E., and Lieutenant Charrington, R.N., 
fell into the hands of a tribe to whom Palmer was 
unknown, and were barbarously put to death. 
Happily, their bodies were recovered, and received 
from the nation the posthumous honour of burial 
in St. Paul's Cathedral. 

The wand presented to me by Professor Palmer 
is a curiosity in many ways. It is made of acacia 
wood (the "shittim" wood of the Old Testament) 
brought by Palmer himself from Mount Lebanon. 
Around it, in spiral form, is inscribed an invoca- 
tion from the Koran, in Arabic characters. The 
writing of the inscription is a genuine work of art, 



212 LATEST MAGIC 

having been executed as a special favour to Pal- 
mer, by Hassoun, an eminent professional 
"scribe." 

I am reluctantly bound to admit that the Pal- 
mer wand, in my hands, did not exhibit any special 
magical virtues, and when I ceased myself to use 
it, it seemed to me that it could not find a worthier 
home than in Dr. Ellison's fine collection. 

Reverting for a moment to the subject of patter, 
I will conclude by quoting, for the amusement 
rather than the instruction of the reader, an ora- 
tion which (with variations) now and then formed 
my introductory boniment, and might on occasion 
still serve, in default of better. 

"Ladies and Gentlemen, and members of the 
Royal Family, if any happen to be present, I am 
about to exhibit for your amusement, a few experi- 
ments in Unnatural Philosophy, otherwise Magic. 

"Magic in the olden times was a very different 
thing, as I daresay you know, from what it is at 
present. In those days every respectable wizard 
kept a familiar spirit : a sort of magical man of all 
work. He cleaned the boots and knives, and 
when his master gave a show, it was the familiar 
who worked all his miracles for him. The 
magician only did the talking, and pocketed the 
takings. But the familiar did much bigger things 
than that. If his master's next-door neighbour 
made himself disagreeable, the familiar would 



THE USE OF THE WAND 213 

hoist him up and drop him in the water-butt, or 
into the Red Sea, according to order. If the 
magician wanted a week at the seaside, he had no 
need to pay railway fare. The familiar would just 
pick him up, house and all, and land him gently in 
the middle of the mixed bathing. The only draw- 
back was that, sooner or later, a time came when 
there was no performance, because the magician 
had been carried off by his familiar on a pitchfork. 

"As the French say, nous avons change tout 
cela, Familiars are as extinct as the dodo. Per- 
haps it's as well, but it makes it very much harder 
to be a magician. In the first place you must know 
all about astrology, anthropology, Egyptology and 
all the other ologies. You must be well posted in 
mathematics, hydrostatics, pneumatics and numis- 
matics. You must know all about clairvoyance, 
palmistry and thought reading, sympathy and 
antipathy, magnetism, mesmerism, wireless teleg- 
raphy, X rays and all the other kinds of rays. 
Of course you must be well up in Greek and Latin, 
and a little Hebrew, not to mention a few other 
things which I forget for the moment, but I won't 
stop to think of them now. When you have stud- 
ied these little matters fourteen hours a day for 
nine or ten years, you will be as 'chock-full of 
science' as old Sol Gills himself, and you will be 
able to do all sorts of wonderful things, some of 
which I hope to show you this evening. 

" Before I begin, there is just one little matter 



214 LATEST MAGIC 

I should like to mention. You hear people talk 
about the quickness of the hand deceiving the eye. 
I don't know whether the quickness of the hand 
ever does deceive the eye, but I want you to under- 
stand that you must not expect anything of that 
sort from me. I am naturally slow. I was born 
twenty minutes after I was expected, and I have 
been getting slower and slower ever since. 

" To-night, I intend to do everything even more 
slowly than usual: so that you will only have to 
watch me closely to see exactly how it is all done. 
Then, when you go home, if you do as I do, and say 
as I say, without making any mistakes, no doubt 
you will be able to produce the same results. If 
not, there must be 'something wrong with the 
works.' " 



A FEW WRINKLES * 

Every conjurer who has in him, as all conjurers 
should have, the creative instinct of the artist, and 
aims therefore at putting something of himself 
into his work, must of necessity be to some small 
extent an amateur mechanic. The hints which fol- 
low are addressed to the reader in that capacity. 
I have no pretension to teach him how to do things 
in the way of construction, but merely to make the 
doing of them easier. Though relating to matters 
in themselves small, the "tips" which follow may 
safely be said to come within the scope of Captain 
Cuttle's celebrated counsel, "when found make 
a note of." It often happens that the amateur 
mechanic has to take considerable trouble and 
pains in procuring some special requirement, 
while there is already on sale, at small cost, just 
the thing he wants, if he only knew what to ask for, 
and where to get it. The paragraphs which follow 
will, in some at any rate of such cases, supply the 
needful information. 

i This book having been written primarily with a view to British 
readers, some of my recommendations will naturally be of no value to 
my American friends, but I have not thought it necessary to delete 
them. L. H. 

215 



216 LATEST MAGIC 

1. For woodwork on a small scale, an old cigar 
box will often be found suitable material. Where 
such a box is not available or not suitable for the 
particular work in hand, what is called ''three- 
ply" may supply the need. This consists of three 
layers of thin wood glued together under pressure, 
with the grain of the intermediate layer running 
crossway to that of the other two, the tendency 
to warp being thereby greatly reduced. Drawing- 
boards are, for this reason, now usually made of 
wood so combined, and a drawing-board makes for 
many purposes a good enough extempore work- 
bench. For a finer class of work, the amateur 
mechanic, if he is willing to take the trouble, may 
make his own three-ply. For this purpose he 
should procure a supply of what is called "knife- 
cut' veneer, i.e., thin sheets of walnut, mahogany, 
satin, — or other hard wood, and glue them together 
with the white glue to be presently described. Ve- 
neer merchants form a distinct trade, and are com- 
paratively few in number, but the resident in Lon- 
don can obtain veneer and thin woods of all descrip- 
tions from Messrs. McEwan & Son, 282 Old Street, 
E. C. In country districts the shops which hold 
agencies for "Hobbies" materials also sell planed- 
up woods of various kinds, ranging like veneer 
from one-sixteenth to half an inch in thickness. 

2. As a handy substitute for glue, most people 
are acquainted with the virtues of Seccotine, in its 
way a most useful preparation. But there are 






A FEW WRINKLES 217 

many purposes for which Seccotine is too aggres- 
sively viscous, while ordinary paste is not adhesive 
enough. In such cases I can strongly recommend 
Pastoid, a composition midway between glue and 
paste. For all purposes for which paste (in small 
quantity) is ordinarily used, Pastoid may be sub- 
stituted with advantage. I myself came across it 
accidentally two or three years ago, "since when," 
like the gentleman in the soap advertisement, "I 
have used no other." The maker is Henry Rob- 
erts, Middlesborough, but it should be obtainable 
of any up-to-date stationer or fancy dealer. It is 
supplied in glass jars, at sixpence and a shilling. 

3. Where an actual glue, of fine quality, is 
needed, procure sheet gelatine, to be had of any 
grocer. Cut into small pieces and melt in an 
ordinary gluepot using water enough to make the 
resulting solution about as thick as ordinary gum 
water. It should be used as near boiling point as 
possible, and the joined surfaces left to dry under 
the heaviest pressure available. A joint made with 
this glue is practically invisible. 1 

4. For dividing up thin stuff (wood or card- 
board), into rectangular slabs, the handiest tool 
is the "cutting gauge." This is practically iden- 
tical with the better known "marking gauge," save 

i For the information contained in this paragraph, as also that re- 
lating to the use of Veneers I am indebted to Mr. Holt Schooling, who 
is an expert in such matters. My own essays in the direction of fancy 
cabinet-making have for the most part been limited to rough models to 
be reproduced in finished shape by more practised hands. 



218 LATEST MAGIC 

that the "marker" is replaced by a little spade- 
pointed cutter. This tool is only available for cut- 
ting wood up to say eight inches in width, but to 
the amateur attempting small work only, it will be 
found invaluable. 

5. For staining wood or cardboard a deep dead 
black I have found nothing better than the "Record 
Jet Stain," manufactured by the Record Polish 
Company, Eccles, Manchester. It is normally 
designed for staining leather only, the makers not 
having apparently realised its usefulness in other 
directions. It is to be had of any dealer in leather 
goods, in twopenny and sixpenny bottles. In 
many cases I have found it best to rub it in with 
a pad, rather than to apply it with a brush, but 
this will of course depend largely on the nature 
of the article to be treated. 

6. An excellent polish for use after staining, or 
for other purposes, is made by dissolving white 
wax in turpentine, to the consistency of cream. 
Applied sparingly, with plenty of friction to fol- 
low, this produces a clean hard gloss, free from the 
stickiness which is sometimes left after the use of 
other polishes. 

7. For enamelling small articles use Maurice's 
Porceleine (the makers of which are Walter Car- 
son & Sons, Grove Works, Battersea, S. W.) pro- 
curable at "oil and colour" men in tins from three 
halfpence upwards. 

8. For any article to be made of flat card or 



A FEW WRINKLES 219 

mill-board, without folding or bending, preference 
should be given to "Bristol" board, sold by artists' 
colour-men. This is somewhat more expensive but 
is stiffer and harder and has a better surface than 
the commoner articles. 

9. For joining wood to wood without glue where 
there is no great thickness to be penetrated, 
" needle-points," procurable of any ironmonger, 
will be found useful. These are stout eyeless 
needles, of very brittle steel, about two inches in 
length. To use them, bore with a fine bradawl a 
hole partially through the wood, then drive in the 
needle-point by gentle tapping with a hammer, and 
when it has penetrated the desired depth snap off 
all that remains above the surface. 

10. Also useful for many purposes are what are 
called by drapers "blanket" pins. These are of 
brass, and a card of such pins in three sizes, rang- 
ing from two to three inches in length and varying 
proportionately in thickness, may be bought for a 
penny. Pins a trifle shorter and thinner than the 
above are known as "laundry" pins. Apart from 
their normal uses, pins of these kinds are very 
useful for bending into hooks, or to cut up into 
short lengths of stiff straight wire for pivots or 
otherwise. 

11. For all effects dependent upon a thread pull 
use, in place of ordinary thread, plaited silk fish- 
ing line. This is procurable of any sports' out- 
fitter or fishing tackle dealer, in twenty and forty 



220 LATEST MAGIC 

yard lengths, and in half a dozen grades of thick- 
ness, the finest being not much thicker than a hair 
line. The breaking strain of this is much greater 
than that of ordinary thread, and it has the fur- 
ther advantage that being plaited instead of 
twisted it does not unroll or "kink" in use. All- 
cock, of Redditch, a name familiar to all anglers, 
is a noted maker of such line, but he has no mo- 
nopoly of its manufacture. It is usually sold 
white, but may be easily dyed any desired colour. 

For this last valuable "tip" I am again indebted 
to my often-quoted friend, Mr. Holt Schooling, 
who, as an enthusiastic angler, is an expert as to 
lines of all descriptions. The reader will find 
numerous instances of the practical use of such 
line in the earlier part of this book. 

A good way of dyeing line is to thread a needle 
on to one end, and pass it by the aid of the needle 
through one corner, moistened with the appropri- 
ate dye, of a soft sponge, and then back again 
through the dry part of the sponge to clean off any 
excess of moisture. When dry, if necessary, 
repeat the process. 

12. Square envelopes, for the purpose of form- 
ing "nests" or otherwise, are now and then needed 
by the conjurer, but envelopes precisely square 
(save the small variety known as "pence" envel- 
opes) are not kept in "stock" by stationers in the 
ordinary way. When such are needed the readiest 
plan is to take an envelope of the long "bag" shape 



A FEW WRINKLES 221 

and shorten it to an exact square, closing the lower 
end as before. Envelopes of the above kind are 
procurable in many varieties of paper, and in 
widths ranging by various fractions of an inch 
from four inches upwards. 

13. To make a line, thick or thin, run freely over 
a pulley- wheel or through an eyelet, use as a lubri- 
cant powdered talcum, otherwise known as French 
chalk. This is equally useful for minimising fric- 
tion between wooden surfaces, or between wood 
and metal, say between a pulley-wheel and the 
pivot on which it turns. Where the slight extra 
cost is not an obstacle the use of ivory as the mate- 
rial of a pulley-wheel secures the perfection of easy 
running. 

It is, I trust, hardly necessary to say that wher- 
ever I have mentioned an article to be had by pur- 
chase, my recommendation is based solely upon 
practical experience of its merits. I have no inter- 
est, direct or indirect, in any of the articles men- 
tioned, and my knowledge of their manufacturers 
is derived solely from their respective labels. 



L 'ENVOI 

With these last lines I lay down my pen, as I 
have long since laid down the wand. I do so with 
regret, for writing about magic has always been to 
me a labour of love, but failing energy and failing 
eyesight warn me that my day is over, and that 
" the night cometh, wherein no man can work. ' ' 

When I first began to discourse of magic, I had 
the whole field, in a literary sense, to myself. That 
state of things has long since ceased to be. Fertile 
brains and ready writers have taken up my task, 
and magic has now a worthy literature, growing 
day by day. i i So mote it be ! " 

Furthermore, if I may be allowed a word of ad- 
vice, let me say that every lover of magic, be he 
professional or amateur, should join a magical so- 
ciety. No great work can be carried forward with- 
out organization, and the success of such bodies as 
The Magician's Club and the Magic Circle here, 
and the Society of American Magicians over seas, 
has proved that magic is no exception to the rule. 

I must not close without a word of hearty thanks 
to Harry Houdini, Oscar S. Teale and John W. 
Sargent, of the Society of American Magicians, for 
their generous offices in connection with the publi- 
cation of my book. With this last legacy to the 
friends, at home and abroad, who have derived 
pleasure or profit from my writings, I bid them 
a cheery farewell. 

Louis Hoffmann. 

222 



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